


of pearls and pens

by partyhardy



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gossip Girl Fusion, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, New York AU, Slow Burn, but dont FREAK OUT its nothing weird, jughead is still a pretentious dork, super ooc at points, they just exist at the same time this aint a crossover, veronica isn't a reformed mean girl yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2019-09-02 13:56:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 27,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16788274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/partyhardy/pseuds/partyhardy
Summary: Veronica shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes. Her hands flying to the pearls on her neck, suddenly constricting her breathing."The enemy of my enemy is my friend," was all Jughead could get out, his hair falling in front of his eyes as he sat down and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.She gave it some thought and decided that it was a lie, once they got rid of this problem he would still throw her under the bus.But not if she did it first.





	1. in my dreams i'm to blame

**Author's Note:**

> Okay soooooooo, this is my first time writing for them and i want to apologize right away!!! There are so many literary works in this small fandom so if youre looking for something better toss me a message and I will rec you away. 
> 
> Some disclaimers:  
> 1\. Jughead is the one moving to NYC rather than Veronica moving to Riverdale,  
> 2\. There isn't going to be that many appearances from the actual characters on the show (until later bc I have a little something planned) but I am trying to include as many archieverse characters as possible that the show hasn't done yet,  
> 3\. They're in their senior year of high school in this but there is going to be scenes of underage drinking and drug use, we aint blind or stupid to the american ways in this house  
> 4\. SUPER IMPORTANT: Veronica is going to be super OOC for a while bc this is my take on her before she came to riverdale and her 'reformed mean girl' thing, I think that this dynamic is so cool and it hasn't been explored yet on the show so I wanted to take it upon myself and do it. I'm sorry if you can't stomach mean girl V, you might want to click out of this and go read something else.  
> 5\. I added this in the tag but I just wanted to clarify, this story exists in the same universe as gossip girl but it will not have anything that significant to do with it, plot wise. I just don't think I can pull that off without it being super cringy and superwholock-y. ugh.  
> 6\. The structure of this is ever changing, I was waiting for my next train when I got this idea so the foundation is there but don't be surprised if things dont go a certain way bc I dont know what why theyre going either 
> 
> I think that's all, if you read up to this point fantastic i hope you enjoy the rest of my deranged rambling.

The fog from his breath left a stain in the window, with a tentative finger he drew out an X. Miles of pine trees passed the greyhound, or rather, they passed the pines. With each lurch he could physically feel the distance between where he was and Riverdale. 

Three hours in, only one more to go. Easy enough, it was a Sunday so by the time he would get to New York City the glitz would be ready to go. As always. The artificially stimulated life of the city was inspirational, aspirational even, but for now Jughead just wanted to get there and be done with all this. 

Moving from his home that he’s known his entire life was one thing, moving to a different city was another. Moving one month into senior year, well that was ludicrous. He wasn’t being dramatic at the least, he had a plan about how it would pan out and this just threw a fucking wrench in it. There wasn’t a lot Jughead had thought through, what he was going to eat for his next micro meal? Yes. What he wanted to do with his future? Fuck off. But the one constant was the never changing Riverdale, picturesque and modest. He never had the urge to catch up there, if anything he was ahead. Nothing changed there. Knowing that the least he was going to do was write and read, he was set. Just the idea of moving to a city ( **_the_ ** city nonetheless) was eradicating, the thought of the tempo alone was giving him the early stages of a migraine. He was already 5 years behind in New York years; he should’ve had a Pulitzer by now. 

———

Gladys stood by the edge of the terminal, one arm resting on the head of his little sister. His mother looked older, more definition around the eyes indicating years of laughter and happiness he wasn’t there for. 

She reached out for him and studied his face, likely making the same assumption as he did. Her eyes held a certain kind of sadness associated with nostalgia, but a lost kind — missing of opportunities you never had. 

“Juggy,” she pulled him into a hug as Jellybean grasped his torso. 

———

Home was now a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment on top of a bodega, true to every stereotype. His room was Jellybean’s but she has moved out into her mother’s room, much to her dismay. 

The walls were covered with posters of some up and coming indie band, or is it a boyband? It’s all the same these days. 

As he sat down on the bed, he opened his phone to check his messages. 

**Archie Andrews: (6:34pm)**

_ Hey jug, hope you made it safe to nyc. Good luck on ur first day :)  _

**Kevin Keller: (5:46pm)**

_ You're going to Dalton right?? Make sure you run a quick check on Spence so I know which socialites to look for!! Also you left your serpent jacket behind, you mind if I...? Oh and safe travels!! _

**Toni Topaz: (4:07pm)**

_ Miss you already loser. Don’t be a total loner at school.  _

Kevin’s message pushed him to go check his email to check for his schedule for Dalton. 

**Welcome to The Dalton School,**

**_Your schedule for this semester is as follows:_ **

**_Period 1: Trigonometry_ **

**_Period 2: Latin Literature & Philosophy _ **

**_—— Break ——_ **

**_Period 3: Global Economics_ **

**_Period 4: Free_ **

**We look forward to meeting you,**

**Ted Friedman.**

**The Dalton School,** **_Go Forth Unafraid_ **

Shit. Trig and Latin? What was he thinking when signing up. Jughead quickly scanned though the rest of the email stating he should be on campus prior to the beginning of class so a student could show him around. 

Quickly replying to the texts he got, he went back out into the living room to eat dinner. Gladys was out cutting up the bread for the soup,

“Where’s Jellybean?” 

She moved around to the table and set down the cutlery, “She has tutoring on Sundays, would you mind picking her up after?” She looked at him, “It’ll be good for you to get to know the city.”

“I think I’m gonna turn in early today,” The last thing he wanted to do was walk outside in the maze of the city. 

“Okay sweetheart, I’ll be gone in the morning tomorrow. You know how to get to school right?” 

He did not, but he would figure it out like he always did, mumbling something of that sort under his breath he sat down and began eating. 

“You should call your father,” Gladys started looking at him for any indications of his emotions towards the subject. 

“Sure.” 

———

He opened his phone and hovered over his dad’s contact information, the last message was 5 months ago asking where he placed the pizza cutter. Jughead opened the thread and started at it, if FP wasn’t reaching out to him why would he be the first to reach out? With that he clicked his phone shut and grabbed his worn out copy of  _ What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.  _

Jughead heard the door open and Jellybean entering the house with a trail of noise behind her, there was another voice with her that he did not recognize but was not really interested on finding out either. 

“Oh it’s no problem Ms. Jones, JB and I went overtime so it’s really not an issue,” the other voice was more high pitched than his mom or his sister’s, but it also has some sort of grit to it. 

Annoyed by his entire living situation and change, Jughead put on his headphones and drowned out the noise of the city. 

This really should have been a magical opportunity for him but sure enough, dreams at the worst times can be a nightmare of reality. 

———

Luckily, or unluckily he hadn’t decided yet, he was to wear a uniform to school. He walked out to see Jellybean all ready to go, he wasn’t sure if he was walking her to school or if she managed by herself. 

“Don’t worry, I have a bus coming to pick me up,” managing to read his mind with a roll of her eyes, “good luck on your first day, make sure you make a lot of friends.” 

“Thanks Jellybean, I’ll see you later.” 

“Actually I go by JB now, a bit cooler don’t ya think?” 

He stared at her for a moment, he wasn’t one to judge, his nick name was  _ Jughead _ for crying out loud. 

“Okay... JB. See you later.” He grabbed only an orange on the way out, already regretting it but his appetite was strangely absent due to the nerves. 

———

“Jones?” He looked up from his seat at the waiting room, a guy around his age with a mop of dark hair and a glint in his eyes looked at him, “I’m Nick St. Clair, I’m going to be showing you around Dalton today.” 

With that he already started walking away, leaving Jughead to scramble to keep up. 

“This floor is mostly for the lower grades with the exception of the drama room,” he took a quick glance at Jughead, “are you part of the drama crew?” 

Jughead shook his head and got a laugh back from Nick, “Good, you know better.”

They passed by posters of kids already advertising their campaign for student council. The old brick walls had a cathedral like elegance to it, but at the same time everything was so compact. The windows exposed the city already on its day, cars moving by defying the traffic, kids huddled outside getting in a smoke before school. The clouds were out, covering the city in a gloomy trance but the weather had been mild. Students passed him by, noses in their schedules at 6:50 a.m. 

“The third and fourth floor is mainly where you’ll have classes, lockers are there as well. There’s a cafeteria on the second floor but no one uses it other than wannabe preps. Say, what classes do you have?”

“Trig, latin and economics,” Jughead handed over his schedule to Nick as he scrunched his eyebrows reading it.

“Well you’re guaranteed to fail trig, you got Chaplain and you’re coming a month into school already. I’m in the same econ class as you so you’re set for that-” 

“St. Clair!” 

Nick rolled his eyes and turned around, Jughead rested against a locker to wind down from this change in environment, back in Riverdale High the school was simple enough, especially being there for nearly his entire life he got used to the rhythm. What the hell kind of school has 5 floors? Was this building even structurally sound? 

“What the hell man? You could’ve given me a warning before you brought Nancy to the party on Saturday, thanks to her V obviously left and totally ruined my cred. You know how hard it is to get Spence girls to-” The boy stopped his rant to Nick to look at Jughead, “and who’s this? Just because I lost some clout from V ruining my party, do you really think it’s necessary to replace me? I’ll have you know that Timoth-” 

“Adam, for fuck’s sake please pipe down you sound insane,” Nick put a hand on his shoulder, “you can just throw another one, I got V there once I can do it again,” he turned to Jughead who looked bemused at this situation, “This is Forsythe, he’s new here so they made me show him around.” 

“Oh, yeah no, I go by Jughead,” the dark haired boy inserted, “my real name is even crazier than that, believe it or not.” 

“Cool, I’m Adam Chisholm - sorry for sounding like a douche but you have to understand the eminence you get from having a Spense girl, no less than Veronica Lodge, at your party. It blows the prestige of having a Constance girl out of the water. By a long shot.” 

“Sounds like a wild time,” Jughead commented, only slightly sarcastically. He could already tell this wasn’t his group of people. But what exactly did that mean anymore, here was the opportunity to reinvent himself. Jughead the jock douche? Maybe.

Adam’s face lit up, his brown eyes twinkling with mischievousness, “Where did you say you were from again? I’ll be sure to send you an invite the next time, let you in with the right crowd and all. I can already see myself as your mentor, what do you think Nick?”

“Okay Adam, no one cares. He’s got to get to trig,” Nick grabbed Jughead and turned him around to the direction of class. 

“Is he always that neurotic?”

“Only on the good days.” 

———

He was starving by the second period. 

**_Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor._ **

He stared at the paper, thinking about how stupid of a phrase it was. Why would anyone want to go for the worse when the good thing is in front of it. Why was it such a revolutionary phrase that it was documented in Latin and taught to him. Maybe it was all the little things leading him to this moment right now, that phrase was made so he could learn it. Wow, he really was that much of a narcissist. The class bell rung as it shook him out from his thoughts, he grabbed his work and headed out with the rest of the students, blending in seamlessly. He felt a shove on his shoulder and turned around to see Nick smiling.

“We’re going out for lunch, wanna join?” 

“Sure.” 

———

He should have been prepared for them to go out somewhere bougie but he really was not thinking, he was hungry and wanted food. The three block walk to Morini was causing his rumbling to go into overdrive, Adam had called for a casual setting and Jughead knowing shit all about dining for the upper class had thought that meant shawarma. Nick took a long drag of his cigarette as he opened the door for them and flicked the rest of it onto the street. 

As they got seated, Jughead read the menu over disbelieving of the price, shit, he had 20 bucks max on him right now. That wasn’t even enough to cover the tip. 

“It’s on me today guys, go nuts” Nick mumbled as he typed on his phone his brows furrowed in concentration, “actually, we might have to get this to-go.” 

“St. Clair, this is Morini not a fusion take out place! You can’t just get things to go here.” Adam looked bewildered, Jughead assumed he was as frantic as he about eating. Jughead kept it in while on the walk there, but Adam had whined about the length of the lunch period not being long enough to actually get anywhere  _ suitable _ and enjoy the time there and still make it back to class on time. First class world problems. 

“Okay then, we’ll just have to grab something on the run then.” 

“On the run? What do you mean on th-” 

Nick stood up and threw some bills on the table to cover the... complementary water? Rich kids were so out of touch, it was fascinating. Jughead took a handful of bread rolls as the three walked out and crossed the road. 

“Where exactly are we going?” Jughead inquired as he passed by a hot dog stand, no indication from Nick of slowing down. 

“Spence,” Nick gave a smirk to Adam, “maybe you’ll get an opportunity to invite V to your next party.” 

Adam lit up, “Hell yeah. Shit, I don’t have the house for myself this week.”

“Figure it out.” 

Three girls stood outside the black doors to the left of the entrance, each dressed in identical uniforms but impractical heels to make up for the lack of standing out. The one with basically a cape draped over her shoulders caught the eye of Nick and broke out in a knowing grin. 

“Nicky!” She ran over to the boys and held her hand out expectantly, Nick reached in his blazer pocket and produced a small baggie of pills. She took it from him and slipped it into her coat, flipping the hair that fell forth away. “Maria thanks you a ton, too bad you couldn’t deliver it to her personally. I know she was looking forward to seeing you.” 

“Well her and everyone else here, I’m kind of the shit, V.” Nick added slyly. Jughead looked around and saw almost all the students that were outside for the break staring at them, he didn’t quite understand the reason. He liked going unnoticed, the eyes on him made his skin itch as he shifted from one foot to another wanting to go get some fucking food. This girl who made Nick reroute his entire plan was not faring well in his book of people. “Adam’s having a party this Friday, you should swing by.”

The girl scoffed, “If last time was any indication of where your loyalties lie then I’ll pass for this intimate soiree. By the way, Nancy has chlamydia so maybe next time do your research before you bring some slut to the same place I am. I don’t need to be associated in any form with her.” 

Nick laughed at that and grabbed the girl into a hug, her squirming under his arms yelling about her hair. 

“See that’s why the world loves you Veronica Lodge, you don’t hold back.” 

“Let me go before I tell everyone you pissed your pants the last time you were on coke,” she broke free from his grasp, “about a month ago.” 

Jughead laughed at that, she really was an asshole. Could give Cheryl Blossom a run for her money with that kind of blackmail bank. 

“Taking in outsiders now are we Nicky?” she sized Jughead up and down, something he got used to quickly throughout the day. Except this time, he felt the need to justify himself, to defy to any expectations she may have. 

In a quick moment of panic, he stuck out his hand. 

“Jughead Jones, the third.” 

She looked at his hand and moved around him, “Veronica Lodge. Did you really say the third? There were three family members before you with that ridiculous name?” 

He really wanted to physically facepalm himself, mentally he already kicked his own ass. 

“Where are you from?” Veronica asked as she settled in front of Nicolas, the other girls standing behind her, the contrast of her black coat with the red door of the school was unsettling, “don’t think I’ve seen you around at any of the parties.” 

“Riverdale, it’s a really small town I just moved here yesterday-”

“Okay Adam, I’ll give you one more shot. But I can’t make any promises. Philanthropy isn’t really in Lodge blood.” Veronica cuts him off and walks past him, “Opt for something a little more Ferragamo-y next time Jones, it matches your demeanor.” 

Nick bumped his shoulder and sarcastically added, “I think she likes you.” 

“How the actual fuck am I going to get everything ready for a party in 4 days?” Adam pushed Nick, “Why did you think it was a good idea to tell her it was this week, I don’t even have the house to myself. Fuck, my parents are having their annual ‘round up the businessmen’ this Friday. Well kiss my social life good bye. The only thing worse than Veronica Lodge leaving your party is your party being cancelled.” 

Adam kept talking to himself about social suicide the entire way back to school. Leaving Jughead the same thought. At the very least they don’t go to the same school. He’ll never have to see Veronica Lodge ever again. 


	2. in my head i do everything right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I want to thank everyone who kudos, read and commented on the first chapter. You guys really made my day and pushed me to write (and finish) this chapter, this one is quite long compared to the measly 2000 word one. 
> 
> I also want to put a TRIGGER WARNING for mentions of past abuse, if that is triggering to you, the second half-ish of the chapter talks about that so you might want to skip out on it. 
> 
> Also, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up. I'm leaving for home next week so maybe I'll be able to get some writing done on the train. 
> 
> Finally, I want to thank everyone who read the first chapter so much, ahhhhh you all mean the world to me!! Let me know what you think about the story, any comments - love or hate - will make my day!! 
> 
> Without further ado, HERE'S ICE QUEEN V:
> 
> .

The Birkin on her arm was light, everything she actually needed was being carried by her “minions”, à la Blair Waldorf. That woman knew what she was doing. Veronica looked forth towards the principal’s office, her mission clear and undeniable. Getting in her way was their own prerogative.

“Miss Lodge, you need to make an appointment before you can meet with Principal Brizendine.” The secretary barely glanced at Veronica, already in tune with her antics, voice monotone.

“Well, this happens to be of crucial importance that may very well jeopardize the sanctity of the school,” Veronica continued on her way, pushing the doors open to the main office.

Principal Brizendine was sat in front of the window with a cup of coffee in one hand and WSJ in the other.

“Yes Veronica, do come in,” Principal Brizendine set down the coffee and folded the newspaper in half, “if it is indeed about the _sanctity_ of the school, how can I refuse this impromptus visit.”

Veronica took a seat in front of her, crossing her right leg over the left. She leaned forward and produced the most concerned look that she could muster.

“As the head cheerleader of our team, I was curious to why Maria missed four practises in a row; especially with homecoming next month. I grew very concerned with her behaviour and decided to pay her a visit,” her hands fidgeting, “I went to her locker to pick up some textbooks for any work she’s missed and in there was this,” she pulled out the baggie of MDMA that Nick gave her earlier.

Principal Brizendine took the bag and studied it, “Oh my, this is quite serious. Especially with the drug epidemic breaking out at Constance Billiards.” She looked at Veronica pensively, “Do you know if she’s dealing drugs?”

Shit. If she starts asking questions like this, it’ll lead back to her and Nick.

“I’m so worried about her Principal Brizendine, she hasn’t been the same and I didn’t think that this was the reason,” her voice catching and breaking to give the illusion that she was truly upset, “please help her before she manages to bring the other girls down.” Veronica let one tear fall down to truly sell this.

“Thank you Miss Lodge for telling me right away, we will look into this right now. Please keep a close eye on the rest of the Spence Sabers,” Principal Brizendine reached over for her phone and hit a button, “Amy, get Maria Rodriguez's parents on the line now, we have a suspension to make.”

Veronica left the room gleefully. The talks about Maria’s suspension had been the hot gossip within 20 minutes, even the misconstrued rumour about her getting expelled instead. Veronica wasn’t an animal, she didn’t want Maria expelled… rather she wanted her to suffer and show her face in time for fourth period. That was pain, and she deserved it.

It truly was Maria’s own fault for thinking she could take Veronica. She should have been more concerned about her own boyfriend cheating on her than Veronica being the other woman. She didn’t give a fuck about Maria’s boyfriend, she couldn’t even remember his name. She thought in a way people would think that was worse, that she really didn’t have an ulterior motive to fuck around with him but, doesn’t that make her a better person? That she truly wasn’t trying to seek him out. Either way, it’s the boyfriend’s (maybe ex now) fault and she just was not having any of Maria’s bullshit.

_‘I thought we were friends!’_

_‘How could you do this to me?’_

Veronica really wasn’t to blame for Maria thinking they had more of a friendship than what was true. God, you know someone for 16 years and they think you’re blood. It was infuriating Veronica so she had to do something. She had dealt with the boyfriend by sneaking into St. Jude’s locker room before the scouted lacrosse game and mixing up his bottle of gatorade with viagra. Really wasn’t that much of a show (or a grower), but it was a good laugh.

She really had planned on leaving Maria alone, the thought of Veronica Lodge taking your man alone should have sent her into hibernation but that bitch was persistent. Maria had crossed a line when she told the Sabers about this altercation, the shady bitch really thought the team would choose her side over Veronica’s.

With this, Nancy fucking Woods showing up at the party, her parents breathing down her neck to continue with tutoring, university applications… she wanted to regain some control of her life. How better than a little scheme? 

Nick St. Clair had come in pretty handy, of course you could always rely on him for any kind of shady business as that’s what the man was entirely made of. She was surprised to see him get to her that fast, she had expected her scheme to take place on Tuesday but the lord works in mysterious ways.

Sure it was a little upsetting to have Maria Rodriguez actually sick and at home, unable to witness her masterpiece but she would be back soon enough. Also, she wouldn’t be able to escape the media aspect of this, she was already trending within the top 7 on twitter. That’s what happens when you whore out for internet fame, privacy just isn’t a thing. Your business is everyone else’s business.

She pushed open the doors for the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror inspecting any damage done to her face while pretending to be upset. Her nose was a little more red and her eyes puffy, she pulled out her _Touche_ _É_ _clat_ and seamlessly blended in the discolouration. She still had to handle the rest of the day, but this small victory was enough to fuel her through that. Fluffing up her hair and adjusting her pearls, she was set to go.

———

Staring at the textbook in front of her, trying to retain the realist perspective of international law she heard her phone go off. Ignoring it she read the same sentence from the textbook again. Her phone buzzed three more times before she got annoyed, reaching for it across the bed she saw a text from an unknown number.

**(212) - 560 - 6402: (8:35pm)**

_hey V, the party is happening 10pm Friday, at_ _4 East 74th Street_ _._

_hopeyou can make it!_

**(8:37)** _shit I mean **hope you_

**(8:38)** _this is Adam btw_

**(8:38)** _Chisholm_

Already bored of this, she closed the messages app and turned back to her readings. Her goal of getting into Oxford University was not impossible, she’s smart and ambitious, her parents status alone should make her a shoo-in. But she wanted to humour the process and at least try and prepare for university like a normal person, the readings from Spence were too basic for her so she decided to look up texts required for first year law in university. Getting ahead never hurt anyone, especially when the acceptance rate for international students was 5%. 

Okay, so realists basically don’t see any use to international law because there isn’t any supranational force binding them to the consequences of not following it. Makes sense, they’re real, realists.

Her phone went off again and this time she groaned as she reached forward for it.

**Gladys Jones: (8:46 pm)**

_Hello Veronica, thank you for dropping off JB on Sunday. She was wondering if you could tutor her on Friday, she has a test coming up on Monday that she is stressed about. Let me know if you can!_

Veronica took off her glasses and held the bridge of her nose, this tutoring thing really wasn’t her forte. Sure it looked really good on her university applications but it was time consuming and annoying. It was one thing if she wanted to do it, like at the beginning, but it was another when her parents refused to let her give it up. They let her cancel the sessions with the other kids to make the load easier on Veronica but they just would not let her give up the sessions with Jellybean. The silver lining was that Veronica actually liked Jellybean, she wasn’t annoying like the rest of the kids she actually wanted to learn. The other Park avenue brats were there just wasting her time, as if their daddy wouldn't just buy out the teacher that dared give their precious child anything less than an A-. Her parents persistence about her continuing to tutor Jellybean rubbed her the wrong way, shouldn’t they be more concerned with her education and not the random girls? Whenever she brought up the load of work she had to do, they always became defensive, telling her to quit the team if it was too stressful. Ha, like hell the girls could function without her. She looked one last time at the text and sent back a reply saying that she would be free.

“ _Mija_ , come out for a bit.” Her mother’s voice came through, muffled by the door.

Tossing her phone back on her bed she walked out to the grand foyer, stopping and staring at a new piece of _art_ standing by the stairs. It was hideous and loud, looking somewhat like a thumb but also had some phallic undertones.

“Where exactly did you get this Mom?” Veronica inquired looking around for some sort of plaque to state who the artist was.

“Don’t be rude, your father made it in the workshop he went to. It’s to manage his stress.” Hermione tilted her head watching her daughter inspect the sculpture, and let out an involuntary laugh, “It’s an expression piece.”

“I think you should be mildly concerned,” Veronica joked as she walked with Hermione into her father’s study. The light was always dim in there, he didn’t get much work done in there anyway, it was just an area for him to brood and contemplate his next move. Hiram was leaning on the corner of his desk with a glass of Glenfiddich malt in his hand. A Cartier box behind her father piqued Veronica’s interest, she could already tell it was a necklace just by the size of the box but she didn’t remember placing anything on hold, her birthday was four months ago.

“Veronica, we need to have a talk,” Hiram moved past her to close the study’s doors. “We strongly appreciate your role in the family business, you have been an incredible asset to us over the past few months, you really showed us you can handle the load.”

Of course Veronica could handle it, all she wanted to do was be a part of this business wholeheartedly, having her name on the documents wasn’t enough, she wanted to involved and be accountable for change. The fight to be let in on their early stages blueprints was trouble already, the journey to actually get her a spot in meetings were nearly impossible. Both of her parents still saw her as their little girl and treated her that way, she had no mobility to move past this and actually show them her worth outside of being on their pedestal. The stress of getting into the actual business side of the family business should have sent her running but if any indication of Veronica’s future was to be told, she knew it was going to be taxing on her mental and physical health. How better to prepare for that than to understand the underbelly of the family business. The proposals she spent perfecting and editing for nights end, the research drafts she had to write up for meetings, even the futile coffee runs she did when the interns really wanted to piss her off; the year and a half of unofficial work had all led up to this moment. She was finally going to be fully immersed in the family business, it all paid off.

“We have a new investment plan and unfortunately we cannot have you on the team as it reflects badly on us. You can still work alongside us but you just won’t be up center.” Hiram reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

“The- what?!”

Veronica was bewildered, her parents wanted her to do everything she did before just without the recognition of her as an equal. Her face pulled in a grimace as she shook Hiram’s hand away from her shoulder, standing back with her arms crossed at her chest. How could this happen, she did everything right and then some, she was an overachiever at great lengths and she always got what she wanted - sacrificing if it was necessary. She didn’t want to sound like a cliche but isn’t being part of the family business a birthright? People already assumed she was involved and had relative power in the Lodge Industries, she felt cheated by this. But to feel so betrayed by her own parents. Had they even defended her in front of these people? Told them about all the work she’s done, her drive? Had they even tried?

“Who is it.” All the thoughts coursing through her, this was all she could ask. Who had been that important that they would take away this opportunity from their daughter. Especially since for the past eight months she had been preparing for this by not stepping on their toes, being the perfect daughter.

“The Blossom Maple Farms, they’re a lucrative business looking for a new investor.” Hermione had stepped forward, standing beside her husband.

Veronica frowned, “I don’t understand, we’re the investors. We have the upper hand.”

“Yes but the long-term project we have in mind requires us to build a stable alliance with any big businesses around the area of the town. There’s already been protests of our involvement being a possibility there and we cannot rock the boat any further with giving you a bigger position in Lodge Industries,” Hiram reached around for the Cartier box, “yet. But here’s a little compensation gift for being such a great daughter and for truly delving into your work ethic, we can’t wait to have you on our team for real.”

She looked at the Cartier box with disgust, thinking about how 5 minutes ago she had everything together, this just completely threw her off base. “Daddy, are you even hearing yourself? This isn’t some sort of office meeting where you fire me, I am your daughter. I demand some respect. You guys go around just using me fo-”

“ _Mija_ , watch yourself.” Hermione started with a serious glint in her eyes, “You don’t want to say anything you’ll regret.”

Veronica narrowed her eyes at Hermione, rage was fueling her now there was no stopping her. With the week from hell she had, she needed an outlet, if it happened to be her parents well that was just bad luck.

“Well there is one thing you could do,” Hiram picking up his drink and taking a sip, “but it’s far too intense for you to do something this advanced,” he looked away to the bookshelf on the right side of the room. Veronica waved her hand to indicate for him to continue talking.

“Usually when we have a potential business we’re interested in investing in, we send out a couple members of our team to scout around and get a good sense of public opinion, without the biases of reporting obviously, incognito if you will. The main problem with you being on the team officially is the idea that you’ll be overworked in this position, child labour scandals are breaking out everywhere right now and unfortunately it does take you under that term and even though we know you will not be working to that extent, we cannot take that chance for our image.”

“But that’s easily manageable, I’ll just be working part-time. Other people do that all the time, especially people my age. We can spin it as me doing some sort of internship or saving up for university,” Veronica contested, already producing the possibilities of defenses.

“That’s not the only problem Veronica. The main advocate against this project has criticized Lodge Industries for its lack of socio economic concerns about the wellbeing of those around certain construction sites, they’ve already got the idea that we want to build some properties around the town and are worried about the damage it’ll do.”

“Well, we’ve never displaced anyone when we built our sites right?”

“Of course not, they just want to find reasons to stop this from happening, even if it will boost the economy of the town.” Hiram continued, folding his hands in front of him, “See, the only way to successfully shut the propaganda down is to find dirt on whatever organization is trying to stop our investment project.”

“Hiram, what is this?” Hermione’s voice was a strong whisper, laced with something Veronica couldn’t pin down.

“If you were able to do some research on the group and see what they have planned, it would be easier to anticipate their next move and be one step ahead,” Hiram’s eyes glinted as she smiled at Veronica, “don’t you see _Mija_ , if we know what they know and use that to our advantage, then we can let you be a part of the team officially.”

Hermione stepped forward but Hiram pulled her back into her spot beside him.

“So you want me to look into some random group rallying against your investment in the Maple Farms?” Veronica questioned, “And find dirt on them to make them regret ever digging their nose in our business?” Hiram smiled at her and nodded, Hermione remained a tight lip looking like she wanted to add something but couldn’t do so. “Sounds like a typical Monday night to me, what’s the same of the town again?”

“Riverdale, does it ring a bell?”

———

Veronica was walking out of second period Chemistry with Cricket O’Dell when she saw a distraught Maria beelining towards her. Cricket was in mid sentence about a possible new routine for the squad when she finally caught what Veronica was looking at.

“Shit.” Cricket stopped walking and shifted her eyes from the two girls, “do you want me to fake a distraction?”

“Not at all.” Veronica smirked as Maria finally stood in front of her, the brunette’s hair looked greasy and there was no indication of make-up on her blotchy face. Veronica crossed her arm and leaned her weight on her right foot, raising an expectant eyebrow at the girl in front of her.

“Is there something you want, Maria?”

Maria just stared at Veronica, the former with her eyes narrowed. The girl wasn’t in the school’s uniform but instead a pair of blue jeans and a grey shirt, she had a red Isabel Marant shopper in her right hand that looked heavy with books and papers poking out. Maria’s chin slightly wobbled as she opened her mouth and shut it, turning her head to the side. She brought up her left arm and wiped her eyes and turned back to Veronica, who was still waiting.

“Are you happy?” Maria finally asked, her voice quiet over the noise of all the other students leaving for the lunch break.

Veronica tilted her head and gave her a questioning look, completed with a fake smile. “As of this moment? I’m not quite sure what you’re asking Maria.”

“I’m transferring from Spence, so I guess you got what you wanted.” Maria spat out.

“I couldn't care less about what you do Maria,” Veronica stepped forward with her index finger pointing at Maria, “At least this makes it easier for me. You’re out of my way for good.”

Veronica motioned with a flick of her head to Cricket that it’s time for them to leave. As she began turning around, Maria spoke up again. “I still don’t get why you did it.” Maria’s eyes were brimming with unshed tears as she tried to keep them at bay.

Veronica sighed and rolled her eyes before turning around again. She reached in her bag and pulled out a small pack of kleenex, handing it to Maria - who just started at Veronica’s hand before Veronica thrusted her hand further towards Maria’s body and only then she took it from her.

“Stop crying Maria, it’s pathetic.” Veronica moved back to her original spot beside Cricket.

“Make your last day at Spence somewhat respectable. As for why I ‘did’ it” Veronica put up her hand in air quotations, “I’m not responsible for anything that’s happening right now, you brought this on yourself and the sooner you realize I’m not the big bad villain in your life, the better you can adjust to your new life in God knows where. My guess in middle America, I can really see you thriving in the navel of this country.”

“Why are you like this Veronica,” Maria shook her head and frowned. “Everyone knows how much of a bitch you are but I always stood by you. Why did you choose _my_ boyfriend as your game?”

“God, when will you get it.” Veronica was frustrated at this point, this conversation was a waste of her time and she knew how much she had on her plate right now. “It wasn’t about any personal vendetta against you Maria, I don’t give a fuck about you. Your boyfriend cheated on _you_ with me, you should be mad at him. Directing all your anger at me pissed me off so I did what I could to stop you from annoying me any further.”

“Getting me suspended is not even on the same level of me being mad at you,” Maria’s tears were flowing freely at this point, “You’ve fucked up my life Veronica, I had everything set here and you took that away from me.”

Veronica looked around and saw that the usual mass migration of students on their way to lunch had come to a stand still, they were whispering and looking at the two girl’s quarrel with laser eyes. Some had their phones out in what they believed to be a stealthy manner but others weren’t even bothering to hide their devices. She cleared her throat and looked back at Maria.

“Then let this be an example,” Veronica lowered her gaze then let her voice boom over the hallways, ensuring that everyone watching could hear her loud and clear, “Take this, fellow peers, as an example of what happens when you cross a Lodge.” Maria looked defeated, her shoulders sinking as she turned around to leave.

“Word of advice if you want any semblance of a life, don’t get in my way if you don’t think you can challenge me.” Veronica linked her arm with Cricket’s as they made their way out to the front of the school.

“Don’t you think that was slightly overkill?” Cricket asked as she reached in her bag to pull out a cigarette, she offered the pack to Veronica who just shook her head.

“Not at all,” Veronica smiled, echoing her words from before. “If people like her think they can challenge me, what will become of the school’s hierarchy?”

Cricket looked at Veronica with amusement, lighting up her cigarette and blowing out some smoke. “You never fail to amuse me, V. Now that Maria is out of the way, let’s talk party.” Veronica looked across the street and saw a couple of guys from Dalton talking with some girls she saw around during her spare in the commons.

“It sounds pretty lame Cricket, it’s only a house party.” Veronica was used to getting into clubs with her realistically looking fake ID, house parties were far too intimate.

“It could be fun, Nick always knows how to throw a party. Guaranteed there’ll be some fun treats.” Cricket tapped the ash off of the cigarette. Veronica turned to Cricket and looked at her taking her hair out from its low bun, the cigarette resting in between her teeth as she did so. Just as Cricket pulled her hair to the front, Veronica took the cigarette from her lips and tossed it to the ground.

“I hate the smell of Marlboros.”

Cricket rolled her eyes and stepped on the still smoking end. “So you’re coming to the party right?”

Veronica began making a mental checklist of everything she needed to do this week, her research on the protests against Lodge Industries had been minimal, opening only the website for the town’s paper. She still had to tutor Jellybean that Friday and just the thought was draining her from wanting to go out. Cricket would be relentless, Veronica knew that much, her friend would not give up until she got what she wanted. They were the same in that way but it also led to tensions between them sometimes. But the bottom line was that they respected on another and had each others backs, making Cricket her closest and maybe best friend by default.

“Maybe.” Veronica ran her hand through her hair, “I have appearances to keep up.”

———

By the time Friday rolled around Veronica had gotten the gist of her mission. Some man who went by Forsythe Pendleton was the driving force behind the protest of the investment, he had rallied most of a gang behind him claiming that Lodge Industries would set up a overseeing HQ on their ‘land’. For the most part the other residents of Riverdale supported the investment, the mayor even calling it a ‘progressive move for the town’s economy that will be in touch with the movement of globalization’. Veronica thought that was a tad bit dramatic but the town looked super dry in the news and in the photos, so maybe this was their Neil Armstrong moment. The most juicy piece of gossip she could find was a teacher-student affair, so as soft-core as they get. The Blossom Maple Industry was also a family business but there was some bad blood in there in the past, as is expected with a business this old. The only recent photo she could find of the family was one from 2007 where the quality was so pixelated she could barely make out the colour of their hair.

“But I don’t think that it would have mattered anyway, Dolce lost its spark like you said,” Jellybean mumbled under her breath as she worked on finishing the last equation Veronica wrote out for her. Veronica broke out from her trance, ever since Monday her mind has been on that godforsaken town.

“Not to mention how racist the brand is, thank god they’re being boycotted,” Veronica added, the topic of the denouement of high end designer was her kryptonite, “JB you need to flip the fractions first.”

“Thank you Ronnie, I totally forgot,” Jellybean grabbed her eraser and started from the beginning. Once she was done Veronica placed her glassed down on the bridge of her nose and looked at the paper, Jellybean's anxious face behind it.

“Well you’re a total star at fractions so I think you’re set for the test JB, how about we go grab some celebratory gelato on the way home?”

Jellybean squealed to that ran to grab her jacket, Veronica quickly spritzed some perfume on before grabbing her phone and keys. She thought it would be best to go to the party right away, then she wouldn’t have to waste her time coming home and getting ready as it it were actually worth her time. She would just slip in and do a line and head home, maybe hook up with someone in the process. To be frank, Veronica felt like she deserved a night to herself and only herself.

“Okay so hot take on Nick St. Clair?” Jellybean questioned as Veronica walked back into the grand foyer.

Veronica rolled her eyes and held open the door for Jellybean, “No take whatsoever.”

Jellybean looked deep in thought for a moment before nodding her head, as if Veronica had made a groundbreaking statement, “You’re right, he is kinda weird.”

———

As the sun began to set, the street lamps automatically turned on and the cold air began to crawl in. Jellybean was jumping around and still running off the sugar from the gelato so she didn’t really feel the drop in temperature but Veronica was regretting taking the half hour walk to drop Jellybean off. Her Saint Laurent cape was losing its battle against the October chill leaving Veronica to mope about declining Andre’s offer drive them the entire way back. At the time it seemed like a good idea, getting some fresh air and watch the sunset but the charm wore off quickly as Veronica’s gelato slipped out her hand as she tried to put away her purse and a homeless man accused her of polluting his area, to which she tossed him a crisp Benjamin to shut him up from making such a useless commotion.

The party was now more of a nuisance to her as it meant she had to find a way from Lower Manhattan to get there, Andre had left to drop off her parents at a dinner with the Vanderbilts and taking the train wasn’t an option as she had no idea how to even get underground. Calling a taxi was looking like the best option but how unsanitary would that be, tourists being the main source of income for them. She knew Cricket wanted her to come so they could torture some sophomore try hards but Veronica wasn’t really in the mood for that tonight. Worst case scenario she’ll go over to Balthazar and order the trout and wait for a ride back home once her parents’ dinner was done.

It was strange to see that the party was at Nick’s house when it was the other guy’s event. Having an event that’s so haphazardly strung together was a classic move for Nick, he was the type of person to always do last minute events. They always turn out great because he’s a great host with all the amenities but, the process of getting to that point always gave Veronica a headache, some structure wouldn’t kill him.

Jellybean opened the door for the apartment and Veronica let out a sigh of relief. The walk had been more painful than she thought it would be, especially as she opted for her new Knikov to break them in. The younger girl went to go get a glass of water for Veronica, knowing her well enough at this point. She began reaching for clasp on her cape to take it off when she realized she had her gift for Gladys in her bag.

“Is your mom home JB?” Veronica asked as she set down her coat on top of the couch, reaching in her sac de jour for the box of chocolates.

“Nah, she’ll be home around 10 though. She had some dinner to go to or something,” Jellybean called as she ran to her room and came out with an iPad. With a big fall back onto the couch, Jellybean began settling down, Veronica decided to leave the chocolates for her on the bar cart beside the front door and talk to Gladys some time later next week about her parents wanting to invite her over for dinner.

“Hey Ronnie, hot take on men?” Jellybean yelled from the couch, Veronica could hear her uncomfortability in her tone.

“Totally useless JB! It’s a woman's world, men are just living in it,” Veronica laughed at the younger girl’s face, who looked happy with her answer as she smiled from the iPad.

“Okay tell your mom about the chocolates here, I’m going to head out.” Veronica glanced at the clock and saw it was nearing 9:20 and she hadn’t made a reservation at Balthazar. Although it was only going to be her, it was unlikely there would be any spots open at this time. Walking to the sink to put her glass away, a note on the fridge door caught her eye.

_Forsythe Pendleton Jones_

_34 Southside Drive_

_Riverdale, Vermont_

_September 13, 2018 - RE: Request for Child Support_

_To Gladys Gershon,_

_I am writing to you to confirm I have sent the due amount for this month and the next. For both Jughead and Jellybean. This amount is $55 000 for educational, medical, clothing and other fees. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know._

_All the best,_

Glancing back and seeing Jellybean still on the iPad watching a video, Veronica quickly took out her phone and took a picture of the letter. How was it that everything she needed was so close to her and she had no idea, she could stay for awhile and talk to Jellybean to see if she knows anything about her dad’s motives but Veronica felt like that would be reaching a new low. The kid grew up here and hasn’t seen her dad in years. She could try to pry some information out of Gladys, after all she was tutoring her daughter so that must mean she has some sort of obligations to Veronica, plus its her ex husband, wouldn’t she love to talk shit about him? One thing Veronica didn’t understand was why Gladys continued to use Jones as her last name when her husband addressed her as _Gershon._ That was something else she was going to look into. She turned off the lights in the kitchen and walked back to the couches. Veronica took a seat and pulled out her phone to make notes of her recent discoveries.

“Didn’t you say you were leaving?” Jellybean finally looked up from her iPad giving Veronica a smile, “Do you want to stay and play a game?”

Veronica leaned forth and returned the smile, “What did you have in-”

The front door opened with a crash and Jellybean and Veronica startled, they heard someone coming in and Veronica stood to go check who it was. Their body blocked by a pillar in between the living room and the front corridor. Veronica took small steps and finally saw a jean jacket covered back rummaging through the box of chocolates Veronica left on the cart. There was a shade drawn over the one side of the man’s back, giving it a ominous feel.

“What the hell, those aren’t for you,” Veronica yelled, pissed off that this intruder would go straight for the Godiva.

The intruder jumped back and turned around to the source of the voice, pulling out his headphones in the process, “WHAT THE FUCK?”

He tossed his phone and headphones on the ground in a panic and began recovering as he placed one hand on his chest and doubled over. His eyes were wide as he turned to the girl in front of him, everything about her contrasting with the environment of the home. 

“I said, those aren’t for you.” Veronica snatched the opened box from his side and walked to the kitchen to set it on the counter there. She could feel his eyes following her and eventually he regained consciousness and walked to the kitchen with a hand running through his dark hair. She reached for her phone and entered in 911 and turned the phone around to show him what she was doing.

“You should leave before I call the cops.” She didn’t have the patience for a breaking and entering amature, being almost kidnapped a fair amount of times through her life she lost all interest in petty crimes. This wasn’t even creative.

“The cops?” The guy standing in front of Veronica frowned, “I live here, if anything I should be the one calling the cops on you. What the hell are you even doing here?”

He looked at her like he knew her. Shit. She didn’t recognize him. Veronica began racking her brain for who he might be, thinking back to dinner parties with her parents. No, he didn’t seem like the type to be dragged out to one of those. Did she hook up with him on the Aspen trip that was joint with the St. Jude’s prep? No, she didn’t normally go for the try hard hipster, but she might have with her inhibitions low. God, he looked so familiar but she couldn’t place a finger on how she knew him, it really didn’t seem like they would have crossed paths.

“Jughead chill, she’s here dropping me off after tutoring. If your lazy ass picked me up you wouldn’t have looked like such a baby right now.” Jellybean finally piped up, still looking at her iPad, not phased by the situation at all.

“Torombolo!” Veronica exhaled, finally being able to place him. Thank god he wasn’t a hook up, “JB I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“He just got here on Sunday,” Jellybean replied, “Aren’t you supposed to be at a party Jughead?”

“Yeah I was on my way to the party when I realized I forgot my wallet so I decided to come back and be ambushed by a stranger,” Jughead turned his head to Jellybean, “thanks for helping me out by the way.”

A lightbulb went off in Veronica’s head, “Are you on your way to Nicky’s place?” she asked taking in his appearance. He looked more relaxed than when she first met him, which was strange as she almost called the cops on him.

His eyes meeting hers and closing them briefly, “Yeah, but I-”

“Perfect, then we’ll go together. Go grab your wallet,” the girl striding towards the door and slipping on her shoes. She gave him a small smile when she saw him still standing where she left him, “C’mon, you want to make a good appearance, trust me. You’re new.” She reached down, picking up her purse and motioning him to hurry up.

Yelling for Jellybean to lock the door, he walked ahead of Veronica. She didn’t mind because it gave her time to think about how she was going to bring up the topic of his dad. She ran up a couple paces and looked up at him, his face pulled tight in a contemplative frown. Knowing part of his family gave her an advantage to bring up the topic without it being too weird but at the same time, bringing up family is always weird. Thinking that it might be easier to ply him with some Malibu and then get him to talk, Veronica opted to stay silent for the meantime. There wasn’t much they had in common anyway.

He held open the entrance door to the apartment complex, letting her walk out ahead of him. She took a couple of steps forward when she felt his hands on her shoulders as he turned her in the direction they were going, she could feel his eyes on her face, waiting for her to say something to break the silence. Jughead huffed as he pulled his hands out from his coat pocket and opened the doors to the car, it was a two-seater with minimal leg space leaving Veronica feeling claustrophobic. He began pulling out of the little alleyway that the car had been parked in as the GPS came to life, indicating a right turn in 300 meters.

Maybe she got off on the wrong foot, she did remember mildly being a bitch to him when she first met him. To her defense she had a lot on her plate at the time and just wanted to keep her interactions with people that day no more than necessary, she nodded and acknowledged he had a name. That was common courtesy, nothing more was required of her. Granted, she didn’t remember his name but now she does, and isn’t that all that matters. Jokes always brings people together right, so maybe if she remembered something from that day that they could laugh about he would open up to her. But, she could barely remember his name, that entire day was a blur except for the small victory of suspending Maria. Maybe she’ll try some god awful small talk. She just needed him on her side until she got what she needed, that wouldn’t be too hard. Looking out the window she saw that they still had quite some time before they got to the party.

“How are you liking Dalton so far?” Veronica ran her hand over the material of the seat under her as she looked over at Jughead, whose eyes traveled back to Veronica’s as he raised an eyebrow.

“You really don’t seem like the type of girl who does small talk,” his eyes still on her, finally breaking away when he had to make a turn. She let out a frustrated sigh and rolled her eyes knowing that this was going to more difficult than needed.

“Humour me, what type of girl do I seem like?” she rested her elbow on the armrest console, resting her hand on her palm. Maybe the more seductive undertone will get him to talk, it always works on guys and girls alike.

Jughead took a breath in, keeping his eyes on the road this time, “Look, I’ve known girls like you Veronica. You use people for your own benefit and when they’ve done everything for you they’re no use anymore so you happily toss them away. It’s fine though, I get it, it's the way life just worked out for you - I don’t blame you. But just don’t make the mistake of thinking we’re friends or anything because I really want nothing to do with you.”

Veronica smirked at his quasi-monologue, growing up in New York as the daughter of a high profile businessman, she was used to everyone having an opinion on her, even if she didn’t even know the person. It was all part of the life, and here was some new kid who has been here less than a week thinking he knew her down to a tee. The sad thing was, he probably believed he had her figured out, as if she were a one dimensional character who only knew how to be a diva and that he was the one who had the whole world figured out but was so riddled in his self complexity.

“Okay so I’m not a manic pixie dream girl, sue me,” Veronica saw him smile at that through her peripheral. Jughead began pulling into the street and slowing down to park, one hand going over Veronica’s head rest as he craned his head back to adjusting the car. She moved her head so she was looking at his side profile, his jaw clenched as he felt her head get closer to his. The space between them had started out so small, at this point she could see the little marks on his face. Jughead was able to get the traces of the scent from her conditioner, and Veronica getting a good look at his eyes. Green eyes finally met her brown ones and Veronica deliberately let her eyes fall down to look at his lips, his adam’s apple bobbed down as he gulped. Finally, she pulled her gaze away and unlocked the door to the car and stepped out, smoothing out her dress from being in the cramped car too long. Jughead did not like Veronica and Veronica definitely did not like him but she decided that it didn’t mean she couldn’t have a little fun with him.

People were on the porch passing a joint around, laughing and coughing with each hit; the front door behind them ajar as more people kept moving in and out. The room lights filled the front porch as Veronica could see though the sheer curtains a game of beer pong that was resulting in cups falling over, the liquid sloshing to the ground without an ounce of worry from anyone. The carefree attitude was intoxicating as she took a step into the house, engulfed by obnoxious bass drops. She could feel Jughead following a few paces behind her, no doubt feeling lost in all this and without anyone there to keep him busy, Veronica was his only option, much to his dismay. From the corner of her eyes she could see people beginning to notice her and attempting to wave her over but she strode straight into the kitchen and found an abandoned bottle of grey goose. The table was surrounded by sticky used cups so she opted for the St. Clair’s bone china she had once seen them store at a dinner party, as she opened the cabinet door she plucked out two dainty tea cups and poured some vodka in them. Turning around, she saw Jughead looking at the pictures on the fridge, not unlike her a couple hours ago.

“Hey nosey, drink up.”

Veronica extended a cup to him, looking expectantly waiting for him to take it. Jughead started at the cup in her hand and made no effort to take it from her to which Veronica rolled her eyes.

“If you need some chase there’s juice in the fridge.” Veronica started in a mocking tone, “If you’re not taking it because you’re a pussy, I won’t acquaintance pressure you.”

“How do I know you didn’t do anything weird to it?” Jughead took the cup from her hand and held it to his face, smelling the drink.

“You don’t.” Veronica clinked her cup to his and took the shot down, winking at him she set the cup down and grabbed the entire bottle. 

———

Jughead set down the cup of vodka on the table once Veronica left, he wasn’t sure if she forgot he drove here or just didn’t care. Either way, he knew she was going to be reckless tonight and just wanted to find Nick so he could leave as soon as possible and leave Veronica to his care. He began shoving his way though bodies as the townhouse grew more crowded, trying to find a familiar face, any face really. Looking in random rooms he found couples making out and doing other things of the variety, which they yelled at him to get out but really it would have been avoidable if they had just locked the doors - really would have saved him the trauma.

His only option was going upstairs but it was common house party knowledge to never do that, but this was important - he didn’t want to leave the party with the possibility that Veronica would wander out onto the streets and somehow choke on her own vomit, not that he cared about Veronica, just the idea of that happening to anyone really was unappealing. It would weigh down his conscience.

He made it up two steps of the stairs before turning back around thinking it might just be easier to send Nick a text instead. As Jughead walked back the same hallway he came from someone pushed his shoulder, turning around to see who it was he saw a sandy blonde man with a scowl on his face. The guy stepped back and told him to watch where he was going to what Jughead could only do was scoff. Luckily the man lost interest in him and headed up the stairs with a sprint. 

“Jughead!” He looked up to see Adam descending down the stairs, buttoning up his shirt. As he made his way down he slapped Jughead’s back and led him towards the living room.

“I’m actually on my way out,” Jughead pulled out his phone and saw that somehow he had already wasted 45 minutes at the party, already baring a missed call from his mom.

“No way you’re not, I haven’t see you all night. Tell me how do you think it’s going?” Adam sat down on the seat in front of the piano, his arm resting back on the closed cover.

“Spectacular, thank you for inviting me but really I have to be going,” he tried to ransack his mind for a plausible excuse, “I feel a migraine coming on and I really don’t think I should be driving when it happens.”

“Aw man, that sucks. I can probably get some codeine, maybe that’ll help you. Do you want me to go check?”

Jughead felt awkward with the lie now, why did he have to go straight for something so intense like a migraine. Adam had his brows furrowed as he looked across the room at something else, his attention no longer on Jughead.

“Ha, that’s probably how Nick always manages to get V to come to the parties,” Adam jutted his chin towards the direction of the bookshelf, where Veronica was pushed up against Nick with his back against the wall. His hand itching lower down her back with every kiss he brought down her neck. Veronica had her head back laughing at his movements and she brought her hands to his head and pulled his face back onto hers.

To watch such an intimate moment without any shame felt foreign to Jughead but he couldn’t pull his eyes away, Nick took her waist and spun them around so her back was against the wall. Jughead thought back to the moment in the car where her face had been so close to his he had to hold his breath, afraid he would make the wrong move and accidentally kiss her. But a part of him also wanted that wrong move to occur so he had the chance, her eyes on him the entire ride and the teasing was getting to him no matter how hard to tried to deny it. He knew that she was bad for him but a part of him also wanted to indulge.

As if she could hear his thoughts, Veronica’s eyes snapped open. Nick’s head was to the side of her neck, definitely leaving marks, she had her lips parted as her eyes scanned the room; brown eyes meeting green again this night, she held her gaze. Jughead started back, his mind clouding over with something he didn’t know how to place. Her lips were parted with a moan but she quickly turned it into a smirk, refusing to back down from whatever unspoken contest they had going on. Jughead felt like it lasted an eternity but as quickly as that moment had happened, he snapped his eyes back to Adam who was already looking at Jughead who then worried if he had been looking at him during the whole exchange.

“What… the… hell… was… that?” Adam’s eyes grew larger with each word, “Was she looking at me? She was definitely looking in this direction but she doesn’t even know you. Is this why she’s here? Oh my god, V wants me.”

“Yeah,” Jughead’s voice came out hoarse, “that’s definitely it.” He reached inside his jacket pocket, ensuring his keys were in there so he could make a break for it. This night had been way more than what he bargained for and knew that this amount of social interactions would last him a good year. Just as he was turning around to leave, he saw the guy from earlier - who was still had a dirty glare on his face. Turning out of his way, Jughead managed to avoid getting shoved again. He made it to the entrance to the room when he heard it.

“You _whore_ !” Jughead quickly snapped back to where the voice came from, booming over the music, “You _fucking_ slut!”

The asshole had made his way to where Nick and Veronica were, pulling Nick off of her in one swift move. Nick’s failing attempt to get the man to stand back, as the stranger shoved his back. Surprisingly, Veronica looked calm, maybe even a little irritated.

“Alistair leave,” Veronica crossed her arms across her chest, leaning against the wall “you’re killing the vibe.”

“What the fuck Veronica? You’re actually insane, how could you cheat on me?” He grabbed her arm and pulled her in front of him turning her around, she shook off his grip as Jughead could see the back of her head.

“Well, you’ve got the personality of wet dog hair, you aren’t as hot as you think you are and, you’ve got a little dick that you don’t compensate for.” Veronica began turning around to leave but Alistar turned her around. Jughead slowly began walking over to where they were, everyone around him in a standstill just waiting for the next move.

“You will never amount to anything Veronica, you will be a party girl who will die overdosing on heroin with nothing to ever show for in life.” Alistar narrowed his eyes at Veronica who scoffed.

“Huh, really? I always thought it was going to be cocaine! A little more classy don't you find? Or wait, does your palette only include the steroids you inject as a feeble attempt to make up for always skipping leg day?” Veronica had one hand out, moving as she made her points, “Could be the reason why you got a small dick, maybe if you used your brain for once and looked up possible side effect we wouldn’t be in this predicament now would we?” Everyone around him started laughing, their phones already out recording the entire exchange. Alistar’s jaw clenched as his eyes narrowed on the girl in front of him, Jughead could already anticipate for what was going to happen as he began to stride faster to the girl, Alistar fisted his hands and began his momentum to swing at Veronica.

Jughead was two steps behind her as he lurched forward trying to push her out of the way, getting a whole load of air instead of her body, but somehow got the full force of Alistar’s punch right on this lower left jaw and nose. He could hear the collective gasp from people all around the room and could only think how embarrassing it must look, but as long as Veronica was okay he really didn’t care. He fell to the ground feeling the blood rush out of his nose as a hand on his back pulled him up, he was turned around and met Veronica’s doe eyes that were filled with fury.

“I’m gonna kill him,” she stuffed a silk scarf in Jughead’s face and he held it under his nose, catching the blood as she left. He turned around to see Nick shaking his hand in pain, and Alistar leaving the house. Veronica came back a few seconds later with an ice pack and held it to his jaw, studying his face for the damage done. He smiled, tasting the metallic tang of blood in his mouth.

“Badass, wasn’t it?” He joked, catching Veronica’s shoulder falling as she relaxed into a smile.

“You’re an idiot.”

She took him by the arm and guided Jughead through the crowd of people trying to slyly take a photo of him in his unhinged stage, the attention on him didn’t even phase him as all his awareness was on Veronica’s hold on him. She let him go as they went up the stairs, Veronica leading the way through the hallway to the bedrooms and opened a door for him to enter. She turned on the lights and went into the ensuite as Jughead used one hand to close the bedroom door. He walked into the room looking around the decor that just screamed elite, his eyes landed on the mirror as he finally took the sight of him in. He looked gnarly to say the least, some of the blood had dried on his face leaving streaks and patches, his lip was split and there was a cut on the side of his face that was starting to swell up. 

“There’s some antiseptic in here,” he heard her call through the bathroom.

Jughead walked in and saw Veronica rummaging through the drawers, gauze, band-aids, hydrogen peroxide out already. Pulling out a needle, she douses it with the antibacterial liquid and looks at him expectantly.

“I can’t stitch you up when you’re a freaking giraffe,” she pats the counter of the sink and he moves to sit on it. She looks at him and tilts her head, moving forward to sterilize his wounds.

“You’re still too tall, you’re gonna need to sit on the toilet when I do the stitches.” Veronica brings a damp cotton ball to his face and wipes away the blood around his face, he watches her eyebrows clinch together with concentration as she throws away one of the balls and grabs another one.

“You know you had no reason to intervene,” she says as she brings the second cotton ball to his cut, causing him to wince at the sting, “I had it under control.”

Jughead rolls his eyes, his hands going to grip the edge of the counter, “a ‘thanks jughead’ would have sufficed.”

“It was actually stupid,” she continued, “I saw the punch coming Jughead, I ducked and moved out of the way,” she stood back and gave him a small smile as she shrugged, “this isn’t the first time he’s tried this shit.”

The way she said that with such nonchalance made him want to go find the asshole and beat his teeth in.

“You don’t deserve that,” was all Jughead could say, Veronica’s hand stopped for a moment before they continued cleaning his wound.

“Trust me, I know.”

“Then why do you stay with him?”

Veronica tossed out the cotton ball and sighed, “It’s not as much staying with him because honestly I never really see him around. Alistar goes to Yale so he’s never here, I’m actually surprised he came to the party today,” she laughed at some sort of inside joke Jughead was unaware of, “my parents like him, they think that he’s a good match for me. Or some sort of asset that’s useful to make Lodge Industries grow, same difference right?”

She looked down at his hands that were turning white from gripping the counter too hard, “It’s easier this way, for him to see me as the bad guy. Then I can guarantee he won’t come back.”

Jughead squinted his eyes studying her demeanour, she still had the pride that was attached to her being but there was a new authenticity to her that he hadn’t seen before, that she was in fact human.

“He’s never actually hit me before,” Veronica sighed, “it’s always been yelling since he has a really bad temper but I kinda knew what was coming.”

“Look, I’m sorry about what I said in the car earlier. I really didn’t know-”

“Puh-lease Jughead, are you really going soft on me because you just realized I’m a complex person you actually in fact know nothing about? How cliche.” Veronica tugged his hands to make him stand up, and gestured him to the closed toilet. He sat down unaware of what to say, every time he thought the ball was in his court, she psyched him out and got a score.

“My dad used to hit my mom,” Jughead managed to get out, not sure why he felt the need to tell her of all people, but as soon as the words came out of his mouth he couldn’t stop, “until I was 9, he hit her. Sometimes I knew when it would happen, others it was so random. It became so arbitrary at one point I carried a miniature first aid kit on me at all times so I could clean up the damage.” He kept his eyes on the corner of the claw-foot bathtub, Veronica kept turning his head around to get the best angle to start the stitches, she settled on having her left hand on his neck while her right hand did the stitching.

“He was also an alcoholic, so all he needed to be was a gambler to get the three for three,” Jughead jokes, laughing without any humour in his tone, he could feel the lightness in Veronica’s touch as she stayed silent and listened to him, “My mom decided enough was enough and moved here with Jellybean, Dad wanted me to stay back so I could help him around - didn’t know that meant getting involved with his gang.”

“You’re part of a gang?” Veronica stepped back and narrowed her eyes, quizzically looking at him in disbelief. Jughead rolled his eyes and shook his head, reaching out and catching the girl’s wrist, pulling her back to keep working on his face. He felt numb talking about this, not feeling the needle at all. 

“If you’d let me finish _my_ sob story you’d know that I left right before initiation,” Jughead sighed, rubbing his hands on the jean material on his thighs, “I saw what it had done to my dad and I couldn’t just throw my life away like he did. He was suppose to get out of Riverdale with my mom when they were younger and they were optimistic but they didn’t know how to save. One of my dad’s friend told him about the gang as quick money, running supplies here and there, but it's never that easy. He got caught up in some serious shady business really quick, the longer he stayed with them, the more they had to to hold over him in case he ever left.”

“That’s extortion Jughead,” Veronica had finished up his stitches and was leaning on the wall in front of him, her arms crossed against her chest. Her face was pulled in a frown, her hair falling in front of her face where she made no efforts to push it back.

“Gangs really don’t care about legality Veronica.”

“Well they should. I’m sorry you had to go through that Jughead,” she spoke strongly, as though she was making an official statement.

“Don’t be getting all soft on me now,” Jughead smiled at her pharaphsing her sentiments from earlier, “But my dad isn’t some misunderstood villain, he choose to be this way. He got clean for a while but my mom leaving him triggered him to spiral down again. Except this time she wasn’t there to be essentially his punching bag,” he looked at Veronica who shifted nervously, sensing where this was going to go, “he started taking his anger out on me.”

“He lost sight of who he was after he joined the gang, sometimes I feel like the only reason he pushed me to join so badly was so I could take his place and he could be free,” Jughead thought back to the times where he wasn’t even enough so his Dad began hitting other people at the bar - the aggravated asshole stereotype. All the pain he had caused in his life, the reason why he had to leave the only place he knew as home, his constant abuse both physically and mentally made Jughead’s blood boil with anger, anger for the boy he was and the man who would be impacted by this for the years to come. His Dad took away what was suppose to be a pivotal role in Jughead’s life and instead replaced it with a monster, even the times where he wasn’t _as bad_ , Jughead would just be waiting for the other shoe to drop.

He turned his head to look at the opened bathroom door, he could faintly hear the music from downstairs being muffled through the bedroom. It didn’t sound like the party would be dying anytime soon. Jughead never enjoyed big events like these, even as a child he would limit his birthday parties to 4 friends, maximum. Even when he though back to Riverdale now he didn’t miss the people as much as how they made him feel, it was a security blanket in a sense. They had known him his entire life so explaining why he had a black eye in the first period wasn’t a thing, they got it. But then he would see how Fred would drive to school to drop off Archie’s lunch box he forgot and wonder why he never got that, instead he got his first pack of cigarettes at 7. Why was he robbed of a mediocre childhood? Jughead found peace in the fact Jellybean will never have to grow up like that, she would always be loved and cared for.

“I would do anything” Jughead’s teeth clenched, “to see him pay for what he’s done.”

Veronica’s thought went a million per second thinking about how she could play this. This was the opportunity she was looking for, but now that it was there she felt uneasy with having the upperhand. She looked at Jughead sitting in front of her, his eyes glazed over with no doubt, troubling thoughts, she would definitely go to hell if she took advantage of this situation but he was just a stranger to her - he really didn’t mean anything to the grand scheme of everything, she understood this but her own conscience decided to finally act up and weigh her down.

“There’s a smarter, better play here Jughead,” she closed her eyes already regretted her choice, when she opened them Jughead was looking at her with his sole attention. “How badly do you want your dad locked up?”

“If I have to do it myself I will,” a confusion dawned over Jughead’s face, “Veronica, what do you mean by that?”

“I’m going to lay out all my cards right now and you’ve got to trust me, okay?” She stepped forward off the wall, regaining her posture and she cleared her throat, “I’ve been looking into Riverdale… more specifically a protest your father is leading against the investment of Lodge Industries in the Blossom Maple Farms,” Jughead’s eyes still on Veronica as he waited for her to continue. “I need to find enough incriminating information on your father to make sure he doesn’t stop the investment from happening.”

Jughead ran his hand through his hair before pinching his eyes shut and rubbing his face, wincing as he ran a finger over the cut that he had begun to forget was there. Really, he was forgetting why he was here in the first place, this whole situation felt like an outer body experience. “You want me to help you find a way to put my dad in jail so he doesn’t stop your family business from investing in the Blossoms?”

Veronica opened her mouth but then closed it, deciding on just a nod.

“This is way out of your league Princess, this is some serious shit.” Jughead sounded exasperated.

“Listen, you want a way to get your father locked up. Well here it is. Take it or leave it.” Veronica defensively added, she imagined him picking up on the offer right away.

“Can you even guarantee he’ll get locked up?” 

Veronica shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes. Her hands flying to the pearls on her neck, suddenly constricting her breathing. What was she doing? He was right, this wasn’t something she was meant to do. It all felt wrong.

“If it’s done right, I’ll get my rightful place in Lodge Industries since your father won’t be a nuisance to us and your father will pay his debts to the judiciary. You won’t have to constantly look over your shoulder, worrying about him anymore.”

For whatever reason, his Dad hated Lodge Industries and by him working along with them would allow him to get the justice that should’ve been served back in Riverdale. Jughead felt some satisfaction working with people that would make his Dad’s skin crawl, just to put the final nail in the coffin when he finds out his own son had been one of the players to lock him away for good. Whatever the plan was, he knew he would follow through because there was nothing else - it had to work, his Dad needed to feel the pain he had to go through.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," was all Jughead could get out, his hair falling in front of his eyes as he sat down and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

Veronica gave it some thought and decided that it was a lie, once they got rid of this problem he would still throw her under the bus. Jughead was right about it being serious shit, if people found out she was attempting to incriminate a man - it could colossally blow up in her face, kissing everything she’s ever wanted goodbye and then some. But if it were successful, she would finally accomplish the one thing she wanted the most in life. Working together on something so dangerous is bound to lead them down dark paths, stuff that can be traced back to them if done incorrectly. If Jughead doesn’t find what he’s looking for in his father’s arrest, he would have no problem betraying her. She had to be sharper than him so she knew, it could only go wrong if Jughead had the upper hand and safeguarded his own interests and pinned it all on her.

But this wouldn’t be possible if she did it first.

———

Jughead checked his phone as they walked down the stairs, the bright screen indicating it was 1:57a.m. He tried to hand back Veronica’s scarf and she looked at him in disgust saying the Hermes was two seasons old and could be tossed. Veronica quickly struck up a conversation with a girl he was unfamiliar with, finding this as the perfect opportunity to run into the kitchen and put the ice pack back in the fridge. He saw Nick talking to some guys from Dalton and laughing as he took a drink from his beer, Nick caught sight of Jughead and walked over to him.

“How’re you doing man? You took a pretty bad hit,” Nick pointed to Jughead’s face with the bottle in his left hand. “I managed to get in a punch before he ran away,” Nick lifted his right hand that Jughead could see was red and cut up a little. He laughed a little at that, slightly grateful that Nick fought back for him.

“I’m fine. Just going to head home now, but thanks for hosting tonight.” Jughead was about to turn around when he thought back to the fight, there was something that was taking over his mind after this evening, “Hey are you and Veronica together?”

“Me and V? Nah, we just mess around you know. She gets off when she has a boyfriend, I guess it's some sort of kink, and who am I to deny her,” Nick smirked as he patted Jughead’s shoulder, “it’s our undeniable chemistry, I guess.” Or pure desperation, Jughead thought. 

Jughead gave a quick wave back at Nick as he walked back to the front door, Veronica was already outside on the porch looking through her phone as some jock tried to talk to her. She stuck up her free hand and told him to fuck off, the boy’s face got all red as he scampered away.

“Oh good, there you are. Let’s go.” Veronica looked up, he could see that she had goosebumps all over her arm from the cold air. Thinking that it would be the perfect opportunity to give her his jacket in the most cliche way ever, he stuffed his hands in his jacket’s pocket as he decided against it. The car would have heating and there had been way too many cliches in one day.

Walking to the car, Veronica had a bounce in her step and she tried to keep herself warm. She looked over at Jughead who looked inconsiderably warm, she wrapped her body tighter with her arms in loud exaggerated movements waiting for him to offer his jacket. She continued this for a while and saw it was futile and narrowed her eyes at him and cleared her throat. He looked at her and she looked back at him, both of them stood in a silence for 30 seconds before she tutted out her head expectantly.

“What?” Jughead asked pulling out his keys and pressing the buttons to open the doors, slowly walking towards the door while keeping his eyes on her.

“I’m cold.” Veronica stated as it was painfully obvious.

“So?”

“Give me your jacket.”

“Why?”

“Because you owe me.”

“Why?”

Veronica held her stare with his and mocked his question in a lower pitched voice. Annoyed at his redundancy, Jughead was impossible.

“You owe me, I basically spent my entire time at the party nursing you back to health.”

“If anything _you_ owe _me_ for your douche boyfriend punching me.”

“Jones, don’t get it twisted,” Veronica narrowed her eyes, “I ducked that punch so if you had just stayed out of my way like you so nicely promised earlier in the car, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt and looked like boo boo the fool.”

Jughead started back at her, finally huffing and taking off his jacket and placing it on the shoulders of her royal highness. He stepped back and looked at her, the girl was skipping to the other side of the car to get into the passenger's seat. The jacket that fit him just right was swallowing the girl’s frame, the hem reaching halfway past her thighs looking comical. He put one arm on the hood of the car and raised an eyebrow.

“Happy?”

She pulled a face at him and got into the car, already talking about getting right to the plan - _Operation: Forceful Emancipation_ , Veronica saying that the name was still a work in progress. The entire evening leaving Jughead to wonder what he was getting himself into. 


	3. are you testing the Lord with the cards that you've been dealt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, 
> 
> So this took muuuuuch longer than anticipated.. I needed to be sure of exactly where I want to go with this fic before I posted this and surprise (!) it took me months to figure out the plot -- in a way that is as coherent as possible and interesting. This chapter is, whewww, long af so if you're into that, yay!! If not, take it slow and break it up and read it at a comically slow pace until I upload again. 
> 
> As for a life update that no one asked for, I finally finished uni (for now) so I'm off home where I can work on this for real and take a break. 
> 
> And not that it matters much for the fic but I have yet to watch this season of riverdale so please let me know if there is any hope for me watching and being satisfied in terms of jeronica crumbs or should I just stick to AUs? I probably should stick to AUs. 
> 
> Thank you once again to everyone who kudos and commented, y'all really make my day -- each one of you made this possible so please give me feedback and let me know that my delusional ramblings are somewhat entertaining. 
> 
> Without further ado, here's chapter 3!

“Your argument is based on no significant evidence Adam.”

“Uh, yes, it is. It’s based on what everyone is saying.”

“No one, except you, has said that the party was legendary. You’re deluded.”

“If it wasn’t legendary then why did it check off all the criterium? Drinks spilling? Check. Hot Spence girls? Check. Did people get laid? Check – and not to brag but that includes me,” he paused to shoot Nick a cocky smile.

“A high fused fight that resulted in someone getting their ass kicked?” Adam looked over at Jughead with an apologetic look, “Sorry man but, check.” 

Jughead looked over at Adam and Nick, not fully immersed in the conversation. The three were sitting at a clearing in Rupert Park, Adam and Nick by the fence with Adam standing and gesturing animatedly; Jughead was lying on the grass and lifted his right arm to cover his eyes. The weather had been surprisingly pleasant for the week, with the sun lifting the spirits of the residents of New York, everyone was seen to be in cheery attitudes, even saying sorry when bumping into one another. Jughead really didn’t care for what Adam was going on about and just let out an uncommitted rolling of his eyes.

“And not to mention the music was awesome. I didn’t play Mo Bamba once.” Adam concluded.

Since the party his thoughts has been consumed with processing if this was his new reality, his thoughts were firing rapidly. Everything was happening all too fast for Jughead, where he thought realities wouldn’t collide, they did. It took him a while to even come to terms that his conversation with Veronica was real and not something he conjured up in a comatose state after he got the shit knocked out of him. She was there like some sort of fucking miracle and he was at his breaking point, Veronica being there by chance when he broke could be the best or the worst thing to have ever happened to him. She seemed to give a shit about how fucked up his dad is, so in some way she cared about him, same difference.

It was the first time he felt heard, that someone didn’t look at him with pity and a strange glaze of bittersweet happiness in their eyes as they were grateful that they could not relate to his situation. Once he had gotten home, he was up for hours reeling back from that night. For once, he had found someone he could talk to. He didn’t care that she would probably tear him apart just because she wanted to, he would give into it completely. He felt free by telling her about something he kept hidden for so long, he hated the fact that it was her who knew but there was nothing he could do about it. Jughead would be indebted to Veronica Lodge for as long as she could hold this over his head.

By some miracle of grace, she had some sort of interest in this. They both had a common enemy that was in their way of getting what they want in life. Well, for Jughead it was more of a vengeance scenario - that would still help him get further in life. Still, they were united on some front and that means everything in this case. How, they would go about their plan was still in question as it had not been developed any further. Jughead was in a trance when he got home, feeling like he was in a surreal augmentation of reality - nothing felt real. Sure, there was the scent of her lingering, much longer than he would like, in the air of the car and the apartment that confirmed she was there at one point but it all felt like one vivid dream. One where he would conjure up the strength and redistribute all that his dad had done for him back, of course in those cases he would always wake up to the miserable reality that he was not strong enough to pull that off.

There was radio silence on the side of Veronica but that could just be explained by the fact that she didn’t have his number… right? Paranoia was starting to seep into his mind about how this could have been one elaborate joke played on him, an initiation of some sorts, publicly humiliate the new kid with his daddy issues is probably in right now. His views on Veronica did not stand in one place for too long, it no one’s fault but his. He was grateful for her to be on his side on this which cancelled out all the horrendous things she’s done, and probably will continue to do but he was fully aware of her character. Veronica did seem like the mean girl archetype, to do this just for the hell of doing it and make him quiver like an idiot and retreat to his rightful place of the wannabe cast out loner. He knew either way he was colossally fucked.

All things aside, the party did in fact happen and he was in some sort of pact with Veronica Lodge that he was obligated to uphold. He just wanted to make sure Veronica felt some semblance and amount of loyalty to him as well. Groaning, Jughead pushed himself up on his elbows and squinted at the boys in front of him. Nick was on his phone, scrolling while still nodding along to what Adam was saying, he didn’t seem all that interested in the conversation but still maintained enough assurance to keep Adam talking. Noticing Jughead move up, Nick winced as he got a better look at his face.

“Looks like Alistair really got you,” Nick used his phone to point towards Jughead’s face. The swelling occurred immediately after the hit on Friday and was subtle enough, if you could look past the blood but explaining to his mother the blooming black eye and bruised nose bridge was hell. At this point the bruising had gone to the ugly stages of putrid yellow, discoloration was all over his face and hands with specks of dark and bruised blood vessels. The battle wounds weren’t even something he could be proud about, they just looked gross and lame at this point.

“Thanks for stepping in again,” Jughead said standing up and dusting his arms off from the grass, “I think I’m going to head back to school.”

Adam began collecting his miscellaneous possessions off the ground as he mumbled something about going back as well. Nick shrugged and lit a cigarette after buttoning up his coat.

“Okay, I’ll see you guys later. Brigitte wanted to see me to plan out this year’s trip.”

Jughead fell into a comfortable silence with Adam as they exited the park, which was strange as Adam was always—

“I can’t believe he’s acting like nothing happened.” Adam exhaled, as if he had been holding this thought in ever since he started walking— which he probably did. Jughead chuckled and raised an eyebrow to indicate him to keep talking.

“I don’t know if you remember him making out with Veronica during the party,” Adam continued.

At the mention of her name, there was a rush of energy down Jughead’s spine. His thoughts had been consumed by her and the implications of her actions all week but hearing her name out loud made him react like he had been stung. He was well aware of what part of the night Adam was alluding to and that was something he kept skipping over in his recollection of the night. Not feeling like it was something that could coherently explain or depict the dynamic between Jughead and Veronica, he felt as though it was unnecessary and so tried to forget about it. Obviously, he couldn’t; he’d be sleeping, and his mind would flash to her eyes on him. Or worse, him in place of Nick St. Clair. Jughead knew the game she was playing in that sense and was frustrated that he was so easily a slave to her system, he’d try his best to act indifferent, like he wasn’t getting a rise out of him when in reality he had never felt anything like this before. There was definitely something new about her but also something so dangerous that she hid under her confidence, or maybe it was the source of that confidence but Jughead knew that it would never result in anything good for him. This was a wager he was destined to lose, if he were smart, he would leave this to being just business; Jughead knew she wasn’t ever going to be the girl for him. And coincidentally, no matter how hard he tried, he would never be the man for her. Which made it that much easier but also a hell of a lot more complicated. 

“He hasn’t told Brigitte,” Adam looked at Jughead with his eyes wide, “I do not condone cheating of any kind - especially on people and standardized tests, I really thought Nick and Veronica were above that.”

“Nick has a girlfriend?” Jughead furrowed his eyebrows, “He’s never mentioned her.”

“Yeah, they’ve been going out since forever but they’re kind of lowkey. The Reilly family is highly influential, and I think the St. Clair’s are trying to set up some sort of engagement to build their rankings.” Adam held up a hand to stop the oncoming traffic as they crossed the road, “But that's not even the juicy bit.”

Adam’s eyes glinted with mischievousness, “Brigitte’s caught them cheating before. Two times to be exact. She said this was Nick’s last shot and of course he gets wasted and tries to get it on with V.”

“So are Veronica and Nick together then?” Jughead held open the doors for Adam. He began getting anxious about this situation even more, it was becoming clear that everything was way more complicated than he thought it to be. Veronica as a cheater who gets off on it makes sense to why she was acting the way she did around him. She probably loved the thrill of doing something and not being caught, Jughead could understand her views of rebelling against whatever constraints high society put on her with anyone that’ll make her seem provocative. It wasn’t personal, he was there, and she probably had an itch.

“Hell no. They have a weird thing going on but its more Sebastian and Kathryn from Cruel Intentions than anything actually substantial.” Adam plucks the flyer taped to his locker and examines it before turning it around to Jughead. “Are you gonna do this.”

“Huh?” Jughead analyzes the paper which indicates a school trip during the last week of classes before winter break for skiing in Whistler. “Oh, I don’t think so.”

“Fucking blows man, last year the winter trip was to Geneva. But some douchebags from St. Jude’s screwed us over colossally when they decided to buy some coke on the streets and throw a party in their hotel room. Not going to lie, though, it was pretty sick.” Adam nodded his head at the fond memory before closing his eyes and shaking his mind clear, “What the fuck does Whistler have to offer?” Adam mumbled as he balled up the flyer.

“Hopefully a great skiing experience for you,” Jughead commented sarcastically as he grabbed his textbook for global economics.

———

Jughead kicked off his shoes as he walked through the doors of the apartment, already itching towards the fridge for anything to fill him up from the achingly dull sandwich he had for lunch. He reached for his phone in his pocket and saw the time was 5:30pm and groaned; he still had the Latin paper that he had barely started.

“Well, about time.” He heard from behind him, but far enough away. Jellybean was perched on top of the couch with papers and books sprawled around her. “You just missed Ronnie, she left like 10 minutes ago. You’re such a lame ass for not giving back her coat.” Jellybean sighed as she began picking up her papers and arranging it back into her backpack, “I guess chivalry really is dead. She had to be the one to drop off your jacket like a prince and take her own back.”

The jacket she had left behind had completely slipped his mind, while he was mentally preparing for the takedown of his dad, jackets were really not his first priority. He looked behind him to where her cape was hanging just this morning and saw that it was gone, in its place was his jean jacket that she had taken home after the party. Jughead felt guilty for hoarding it but also was trying to find the right moment to give it back to her… of course that right moment wasn’t anytime soon so he ended up forgetting about it.

“Did she say anything?” Jughead asked as he began heating up some leftover Bolognese.

“Yeah, for you to grow a pair and call her,” Jellybean started walking past him to get to her room.

“C’mon Jellybean,” Jughead walked behind her, “this could be important.”

“It’s JB! Jughead,” Jellybean turned to look at him as she closed the door, “don’t you ever forget it!”

He rolled his eyes at his sister’s little show, “Okay _JB_ , now tell me what she actually said.”

“Just text her.”

“I don’t have her number.”

“Boo-hoo. Guess you’ll never know.”

“JB, just give me her number.” Jughead shifted his weight so he was leaning on the doorframe, knowing he would be here for a while as Jellybean loved to wreak havoc in any way possible. “I’ll take you out for some ice cream if you give me her number.”

There was silence on the other side of the door then, “Where?”

“That bougie-ass place Mom never lets us go.”

The handle of the door jingled as Jellybean’s face emerged on the other side, with a sly grin on her face. “God, you’re too easy.”

“Give me Veronica’s number now.” Jughead sighed as he stepped away from the door, pulling out his phone and handing it over to Jellybean.

Jellybean was still smiling as she put her information in his phone, she looked up to him and Jughead rolled his eyes.

“What?”

“Nothing…” Jellybean sang back to him.

“Cool, give me my phone back now.” He held out his hand expectantly.

“I just find it funny how obsessed you are with her,” Jellybean started wiggling her eyebrows, “Its adorable.”

“You’re like 7, Jellybean.” Jughead snatched his phone from her hand and walked back down the hall and into his room.

“Then tell me, why am I _so_ much more mature than you are?”

Jughead closed his door as he opened a new text with Veronica, already anxious about what he would say to her. Was “ _hey, remember that plan we had about ruining my dad’s life because he’s a complete asshole and so you can join your family business? Yeah just wanted an update on that!_ ” too much? Getting stressed from the text that wasn’t happening he tossed his phone on his desk and decided to clear his mind with some Latin. He opened his notebook and started writing up his essay.

———

The next day around the end of Trig but right before Latin, Jughead got a text.

**Veronica Lodge: (9:23)**

_Did you die?_

The boy smiled at his phone and looked around; Nick had blown off first period today, so he didn’t have to worry about anyone looking over his shoulder. Without his presence being surrounded by Adam and Nick, Jughead was as good as invisible – which he didn’t mind, it kept him sane.

**Jughead Jones: (9:23)**

_I was wondering the same thing_

**Veronica Lodge: (9:23)**

_You must have gotten a concussion when you wiped out_

_We have matters to attend to, and if you could get with it, that would be great_

**Jughead Jones: (9:24)**

_Just wanted to hear from you first_

_…to make sure I didn’t hallucinate the entirety of our conversation on Friday_

**Veronica Lodge: (9:24)**

_Ha, here I was thinking you already chickened out_

_Meet me at 65E 89 th at 11:45 sharp. _

By the time the lunch break rolled around, Jughead had been well on his way to the given location. He stood outside of a grand church and looked down at the text Veronica had sent; it was the right location but seemed off. He looked around for any sign of the girl so he could advance towards the place but there was nothing, the time was already 11:50 so she probably was inside already.

Jughead took one of the heavy wooden doors and pulled it open and began walking in cautiously, looking out for the raven-haired girl. The church had a fair amount of people scattered around it so Jughead took a seat and decided to scope the area from there. There were candles lit at the front and background noise of some hymn playing in a further room, he couldn’t recall the last time he had been in a Church. Sighing, he began standing up thinking that she had stood him up.

“Great, you’re here.” Jughead turned to see Veronica walking into the Church with black glasses on, taking off her cape as she walked. She moved past him to take a seat next to him and gestured for him to sit back down.

“This feels like a weirdly ostentatious place to do this,” Jughead sat back down and looked at her; Veronica’s eyes stayed fixated on the front of the Church, but she raised an eyebrow at his comment.

“I think it sets the mood perfectly.” She spoke in a low voice, “Don’t you think we need some sort of moral background to ease our conscience for the sins we’re going to commit.”

Jughead tiled his head at her and scoffed as he sank into his seat, “I’m not religious.”

“And who said I am?” Veronica turned her body towards him, “God doesn’t judge, right?”

“I guess, A for effort.” Veronica laughed at that, and Jughead took it in.

Then they sat there, both silent and staring ahead for a few more minutes. The two of them deep in their own thoughts about how to even begin their plan, or the lack thereof. People in the church started clearing out, leaving just them and the soft music in the back.

“I just wanted to do this somewhere away from prying eyes,” Veronica explained, cutting the silence, “you never know whose overhearing.”

“And you thought a place of worship was the best bet?” Jughead responded, still looking ahead.

“Everyone’s agnostic or atheist these days,” Veronica replied as she finally took off her sunglasses and put them away in her bag, “No one will catch us here.”

“I highly doubt anyone is even paying attention,” he watched her movements, she pulled a notebook out of her bag and a fountain pen.

She looked up at him with an amused expression, “Are you for real?”

Jughead shrugged and shook his head, “We’re not doing anything wrong.”

Veronica pulled the cap off her pen and pressed open the notebook, so it lay flat on her thighs and pointed the pen at him, “First of all, we are literally planning the criminal investigation of your father. My reasons for doing this are tied to the business side of things where we, the Lodges, do have quite a few enemies looking for any substantial evidence to take us down – and the daughter of their enemy looking into shady shit seems like a fairly big one.” She narrows her eyes and looks over her shoulder briefly, “And on top of that, Gossip Girl blasts don’t discriminate, they could be sent anytime, anywhere with the help of the unwitting which could blow this entire operation up. That bitch has eyes everywhere.”

She closed her eyes and sighed, “I just want you to be aware of the consequences, we’ll have to be clandestine in everything we do from here on out.” Jughead got the sense that more of her speech was relevant to her than himself, she seemed like she was trying to convince herself to go through with it.

“Hey,” he started softly, unaware of how to sound concerned but also not condescending – he knew that coming off too strong may push her even further away and have her shut him out, “you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Veronica scoffed and shook her head, “Oh please, I _want_ to do this. It’s you I’m worried about pulling out.”

“Well I’m fully aware of the consequences and I’m still here.” Jughead snapped back.

“Good for you.” Veronica narrowed her eyes.

They sat in silence for some time after that.

Frustrated, Jughead started getting up, “So if that’s all you wanted to talk about, I’ll be on my way.”

“No wait,” Veronica reached out and grabbed his hand to stop him from leaving. He looked at her fingers which were holding onto his, his hands still slightly bruised and matching the dark polish on her nails. She quickly took her hand away and Jughead warily began sitting down, yet again.

“I…” Veronica cleared her throat, “I’ve been looking into Riverdale.”

“And?”

“I just want to know the public opinion on the Blossom Maple Farms,” Veronica tries to read his expression, “I think that’s what they’re called.”

“Sure, the Blossoms.” Jughead nodded his head, “They’re wildly disliked by various people in town, for different reasons.”

“That’s weird, from that I’ve seen they’ve basically built an empire in Riverdale,” Veronica frowned.

“Corruption seethes the town, its nothing new,” he responded, “everyone is blissfully ignorant to it.”

“How is that even possible,” she questioned, “in a town that small, wouldn’t this be all that people were talking about?”

“For the most part, they’re the most powerful family in Riverdale. They own multiple businesses and make _generous_ contributions to institutions that are supposed to stay impartial,” Jughead said, “they want to stay on top, no matter the costs. They’ve run businesses out of town that they thought threatened their ranking.”

“The Blossom Maple Farms is supposed to be the singular Lodge Industry’s partner if we manage to set up in Riverdale,” Veronica frowned, “but I’m starting to think this is the main competition against us.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda weird that they want to work with your family on building, what was it? Infrastructure for a better small-town economy?” Jughead questioned, “They love being the one’s in charge. There was some sort of initiative back in 2009 to bring bigger businesses, like bank and insurance corporations, to town but, the Blossoms managed to shut it down by convincing the town that if they allowed bigger businesses to come in, it would fuck up the entire system of economics in the town and would basically push people out of jobs.”

“Well fear does work great as a political tactic,” she sighed, “but there’s no way everyone agreed.”

“No one did,” Jughead looked at her and smirked, “there was an election to decide what the town was going to do and somehow the Blossoms got a majority vote. It was strange considering almost everyone in town was against their policy.”

“So what? They rigged the voting system,” Veronica let out an amused laugh but caught the look on Jughead’s face and stopped, “you’re kidding me?”

“This town is built on dirty secrets and the Blossoms have been at the core of it since the start,” he stated, “The son and heir to the family business was found dead last year, no one knows who killed him but it was something that shook up the town completely.”

“I saw that on-line,” she said, “how they never found out who killed him.”

“That’s one side of the story, and its true for the most part but…” he leaned forward, “it’s a small town, people talk.”

She smiled conspiratorially while moving forward to match his movement, “Are you saying you have a hunch?”

Jughead looked at her and shook his head, “I mean, people have their theories about suspects ranging from his girlfriend to the sheriff.”

Veronica curled her lips in disgust, “How… boring.”

“I’m sorry that a small-town murder couldn’t be up to your standards Veronica,” he replied sarcastically.

“I mean the best piece of gossip that I could dig up was some student-teacher affair, so I don’t know why I got my hopes up for something juicer,” she sighed as she scribbled something down in her notebook.

At the indirect mention of Archie and technically his past, he stiffened up. Jughead didn’t really think about the fact that two very polar sides of his world were going to be colliding, he came to New York with the intention of semi-rebuilding himself and letting go of the past but here he was with the epitome of the extravagant New York lifestyle digging up what he wanted to forget about. He really thought that they would go in, fuck up his dad’s life and leave – not seeing or thinking about anyone he would potentially have to deal with in the process of going there. Veronica wasn’t to blame; she had no idea who these people were and how what role they played for the majority of his life, but he was still unnerved by her brining up something that felt so intimate to being limited within Riverdale.

“Hello? Jughead?” Veronica’s hand took up his view as she waved to get his attention. He snapped back to reality and realized he was staring hard at the pulpit at the front of the Church.

“Yeah?” He brought his fingers to the bridge of his nose and pinched it, feeling a headache coming.

She stared at him for a moment, and her voice came out soft – which was unusual for him to hear, “Are you okay?”

He nodded and let out a laugh as he stood up (again) grabbing his things, getting ready to leave for real this time. Veronica gave him a questioning look and he pointed at himself and then to her, “Its actually quite ironic, two sinners in a Church.”

———

Once he got home, Jughead opened a new moleskin finally finding some inspiration to write. He had decided on the way home to document what they were doing, the plan and its execution; for organizational purposes but also so he could get back in the rhythm of writing. It wasn’t something he was writing to get published but something for himself, something to hold onto and keep him going. Opening the stiff notebook, he started scrawling out his experience in Riverdale; starting with his childhood, anything he could remember. All his friends came alive on his page as he attempted to flesh out their character and their importance in his life.

Jughead masked the identities of the people he grew up with by giving them fake names, Archie became Alexander, Betty became Alicia, Toni became Casey (which was her go-to fake name as by her fake ID) – it became a world that was just as familiar as it wasn’t. 

He kept circling around writing his dad having no idea how to frame him, his bias couldn’t go away but he wanted to at least stay give him more originality. The reality was that he wasn’t special, his dad – like countless others – were pathetic excuses of human beings; they relished in their long-gone glory days and sought to make others suffer because they do. He had a dark wish that there was just a little something to make his life different from that of other battered kids, he wished that his dad had a reason to make his life miserable.

Once his stomach started to ache from hunger, he closed the journal and put it in his desk drawer then got up to leave his room. Walking out, he saw Jellybean getting out of her room as well pulling a face at him and running to grab her spot at the dinner table.

Jellybean stuck out her head towards Gladys and saw that she was busy stirring the pot of sauce, so she ducked her head back down and smiled at Jughead, wiggling her brows, “How was your meeting with Veronica?”

As a response, he threw a napkin at her and told her to shut up.

“Okay kids, dinner is served!” Gladys sang as she brought the pot over to the table, oven mitts covering her hands, “I tried a new recipe, so I want you guys to be honest.”

“It looks…” Jellybean started to say but trailed off as she really started to inspect it.

“Delicious,” Jughead intercepted as he took a big spoonful and plopped it down on his face, giving his mother a smile that she returned.

“How’s school going Juggy? Make any new friends?” Gladys asked.

“Good, I like most of my classes, but economics is already kicking my ass.” Jughead replied, “Yeah, I’ve made a couple new friends I guess.”

“That’s good. I’ve been meaning to tell you that the Lodges invited us over for dinner on Saturday, you’ll be able to meet Veronica – she’s JB’s tutor – and I think she’s also a senior like you.”

Jughead took a gulp of water, “I’ve actually already met her,” he spared the details about their meetings and what they ensued.

Gladys looked surprised, “Really? When? I can’t remember introducing you two. You’re always moping around in your room.” Jellybean let out a snort to that. 

“Ha-ha. Very funny.”

“Okay, well… don’t make any plans this Saturday,” Gladys looked at him and inspected the fading bruises on his face and her face softened as she murmured, “Especially none to any parties.”

Dinner was painfully normal and the events following it was on schedule — a half hour after everyone had finished eating, Jellybean decided to work on some science homework but eventually got lost which then Gladys stepped in to help and exacerbated the situation leading to all the Jones girls to fight back and forth on how to do school work. Jughead, attempting to finish his Latin paper, could no longer focus at home so he decided to take his laptop and go to somewhere quieter.

He walked around aimlessly for a good twenty minutes, convincing himself that the buildings he entered we’re too loud – in noise and its general atmosphere – but he knew it was just him procrastinating even more. Not being able to decide on anywhere good close to home, he remembered hearing about a bookstore in Brooklyn that had good reviews; deciding that the _Greenlight_ would be his best bet, he finally decided to get on the Q line and go waste more time at a bookstore – but defending it as an opportunity to do further primary research.

The store was calm when he walked into the store – there was an employee shelving books who gave him a nod that Jughead returned, he walked further into the store and found an area of desks and low lighting. Taking his spot there and getting comfortable, he began working on his paper – he had already done a very rough draft and just needed to clean it up and go over it with more information. After a good two hours of concentrated work, he felt proud of the result and saved his work deciding to do the citations once he got home. Jughead took a moment for himself as he sighed a breath of relief and leaned back on the chair and closing his eyes.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” the shrill voice of Veronica Lodge shook him out of his moment of peace as he startled on the chair and looked for her, she was standing at a bookshelf with one hand mid-way through plucking one off the shelf.

“What the hell are you doing here?” She finally sprung to action and took the book off the shelf but moved closer to him. Jughead noticed she had discarded her signature black cape for a light beige trench coat that was left unbuttoned which showed off her pearl necklace, contrasting on top of a black turtleneck.

“Starting a cult,” Jughead bit back then pointed to his laptop and papers strewn around the desk, “What does it look like?” 

Veronica scoffed and stood by the edge of the desk with her hip leaning on the dark wood. “Do I have to remind you that we need to be a little more covert in our meetings?”

“And do I need to inform you that this isn’t a meeting?”

“Then why are you here?”

“Why are _you_ here?”

“I’m always here on Thursdays, it’s my day here.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t made aware of the legal custody we had over the bookstore.”

“Stop being a smartass.”

“Can’t. It’s in my blood.”

She then rolled her eyes and pulled up a chair next to him and huffed as she sat down. Jughead expressed a fake gasp as he looked around.

“Can you really risk sitting next to me right now with all these,” he gestured to the rest of the empty bookstore, “Prying eyes.” 

“Aren’t you the comedian,” she looked at the papers on the desk, “What are you working on?”

“Latin, I have a paper due tomorrow.”

“And so, you decided to come to a bookstore to work?”

“I was in the neighbourhood?” She rolled her eyes at his responses and pushed aside his papers to throw her bag on the desk.

“So why are you here?” He questioned her.

“I needed a book that no one seems to sell in Spanish except here,” she turned the book around so he could see the cover, _El amor en los tiempos del cólera._

“Oh cool, _Love in the Time of Cholera_.” He nodded to the book approvingly.

Surprised, she raised an eyebrow at him, “You’ve read it before?”

“Yeah, beautiful writing and completely bittersweet. Garcia Marquez transformed something as simple as adolescent love into an epic tale, it was truly remarkable.” Jughead’s eyes were wide with passion for the book.

Veronica felt like the world was playing a prank on her, some guy she barely knows speaking so highly of a novel that touched her soul. But her excitement and giddiness for someone to match her interests and passions far outweighed her caution, “That’s exactly how I feel. I read the English interpretation first and felt like there’s probably so much that was missed from the original through the process of translation. Considering the original is in Spanish I incorrectly believed it would be easy to find it in the city.”

“I haven’t read the original Spanish version though; do you speak Spanish?”

She shook her head, “We speak Portuguese at home and its quite different from Spanish but, I can manage around the writing since it’s very similar.”

“You’ll have to try to articulate all that was wrong or left behind from the original piece once you’re done reading it,” Jughead joked, and Veronica gave a genuine smile back.

“Of course,” she said as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. The two forgot in that moment what their united grounds were, in that moment they were just two kids starting the foundation of a new friendship on common interests. They felt normal and at peace with one another, breathing in the energy of comfortability and a sudden familiarity between them. They knew if they brought up the real reason they decided to tolerate each other’s company would lead to the shattering of this new illusion, and if nothing else they just wanted to maintain the fantasy for a little while longer.

“I’m going to get going.” Veronica was the first to break the silence.

“I should too,” Jughead started to put away his papers and laptop, then began pulling on his jean jacket.

She stood up, flipped her hair back and grabbed her bag, “I’ll be seeing you Friday then.”

He nodded, “Right, dinner at the Lodges.”

Veronica left without another word, Jughead watched as she went to the counter and bought the book, not sparing a look at him the entire time. When she finally left the store, through the large glass windows he could see her get into a waiting car – he wasn’t sure if she had forgotten something because she tilted her head and looked back briefly into the store. After the car took off, he sat there for a little while longer before finally getting up and walking out onto the street; while waiting for the train to take him back home, he made a mental note deciding that going back to that bookstore on a Thursday shouldn’t be in his plans anytime soon. Or any sort of contact with Veronica outside of planning for his dad’s takedown wouldn’t be a smart idea.

———

The entire penthouse was dark once Veronica got home except for her father’s study with one door left open that let the light spill out onto the foyer. Walking in to say goodnight to Hiram, she saw there was no one in there – his seat was abandoned and as she walked around to the computer, it was shut down. Thinking he must have forgotten to turn the lights off when he went to bed, she walked to the lamp to turn it off – a newspaper article caught her eye as her hand went to the switch.

_Riverdale’s notorious gang to lead the protest against urban construction._

Veronica quickly scanned the room once again before picking up the article and flipping through it. There was nothing new in the paper that she didn’t already know from her research into the town – all that kept coming up in everything she looked up was the common denominator of the Blossoms. Jughead wasn’t much help to her figuring them out any more than before as they remained as elusive as ever. She thought that having an inside source like Jughead would magically give her all the answers, but she was still as stumped as ever. As much as Jughead was an insider, he still wasn’t as good and close to the source – despite being FP’s son. Jughead acted like he was an open book but remained reserved which was frustrating to Veronica as she couldn’t get anything out of him. Whenever she saw him, she left with more questions than she came with.

Whenever she would bring up the topic of her investigation into Riverdale, her father would give that calculated nod and smile that she only ever saw done to business partners. He would be very ambiguous in what his recommendations were as well – she knew that it was ultimately up to her to prove herself to her father but his apparent lack of interest in helping her with the matter gave her pause. Veronica also battled a part of her that felt like this was a test to the test – to see if she could actually take on bigger tasks on her own without her father’s help and he was only acting like this to psych her out.

Hermione flat out refused to talk to her about Riverdale – each time it would come up, she would find some vague reason to leave or change the conversation. What initially began as a simple enough task made Veronica grow more and more agitated with how complicated it was. She loved a good scheme and planning it was half the fun but with this – she had no idea where to start. Every time she took a step forward, she fell five back.

She pulled out her phone out of frustration and walked out of the study, as her last resort she opened up Instagram, searched up, followed Cheryl Blossom.

———

Cricket gave Veronica a quizzical glance as the dark-haired girl strode into the school’s library. As she made a beeline towards Cricket the people sitting at the same table as her quickly scattered away.

“You don’t have study hall right now,” Cricket said as she began putting away her books, knowing that she wouldn’t get any work done now.

“And now neither do you,” Veronica tilted her head towards the door, “Come, I’m feeling incredibly existentially aware today.” Cricket fell in step with her as they walked down the hallways, empty for the most part.

Cricket held open the main entrance doors, “What inspired this crisis?”

“Never said it was a crisis.”

“So, you’re having an epiphany.”

Veronica sighed, “Not necessarily as profound but don’t question it C. Let’s just see where this takes us.”

“Famous last words Veronica. Last time you said that we ended up landing a helicopter on someone’s villa in Lake Como”

“And now it’s a story to tell.”

“We were on the run from the Italian police for a week.”

“It gives us an edge… we have a dark past.”

“And the mugshots to prove it.”

Veronica smiled as she pulled Cricket closer and linked arms with her, “Please tell me we burned all remaining copies of that… the Bonnie and Clyde look was not for us.”

“Nah, I still have one stowed away for blackmail against you.” Cricket laughed as Veronica playfully punched her arm.

“For real V, are you good?” Cricket scanned Veronica’s face for any tells that might give away something she was trying to hide.

“I’m fine Cricket,” Veronica gave a smile, “Really, I mean it.”

The other girl just narrowed her eyes inquisitively, “Okay but I’m not above kicking anyone’s ass if you’re upset.”

“I wouldn’t need you to kick any ass C, I can do that on my own,” Veronica straightened out her posture.

“C’mon V, I’m muscles and you’re brains. No way you’d hold up in a fight.” 

“I have experience.”

“Attempting to slum it and go Black Friday shopping last year does not constitute as fighting experience.”

Veronica’s eyes widened, “C you don’t understand… it was madness. Utter madness.”

Cricket rolled her eyes and pulled out a cigarette, “Speaking of fights, you never told me what went down with you and boy-toy Alistair.”

“Nothing you don’t already know. It was a long time coming and I finally think he got the hint that I don’t want to be with him anymore,” Veronica huffed out in a nonchalant manner.

“And breaking up with him the traditional way was too much?” Cricket raised an eyebrow.

Veronica knew that Cricket was being reasonable asking that, but it still made her tense up. She had tried so hard to maintain the front that she didn’t care and was unbothered by Alistair – that he was something under her thumb, that he was disposable. She had done this so spectacularly and successfully that everyone saw the fight as something comical – _there goes V again, breaking hearts as always_. The reality was that she was terrified of him, that she had no idea how to break up with him without her fear swallowing the words down her throat. Setting up the scene for him to walk in on her cheating gave her the upper hand as she would be surrounded by people she knew, and he would have the decency to walk away. She didn’t think that he would actually try and hurt her in front of people.

She felt ashamed but also powerful – that she could fake this image of herself so effectively that even her best friend bought into the façade. But she knew at the same time that this was the one person in the entire world that accepted her no matter what and keeping this from her felt like a betrayal of some sorts. She had managed to stay busy all week to avoid thinking about him and what he did and could’ve done – when she saw Jughead she refused to think of the fight and instead immerse herself into the problem with Riverdale. Veronica didn’t want to put any more effort into thinking about him as he was disgusting and despicable and she was finally free of him. It still didn’t make it easier when Cricket talked about the fight as if Veronica provoked him and was at fault.

“Considering he harassed me during our relationship, yeah, traditional was way too much.” Veronica bit back, much sharper than she wanted it to come out. She could feel Cricket’s head swiftly turn and look at her – the dark-haired girl kept her eyes ahead of her, afraid of the pity on her best friend’s face.

“Shit, Veronica.” She managed to say, “Why didn’t you tell me?” Cricket’s tone felt more worried and frustrated than laced with pity.

“Honestly… I don’t know.” Veronica closed her eyes and stopped walking, “I didn’t want to seem weak… I thought it was something I could handle so I didn’t want to bother anyone. I knew it was wrong and I had it under control.”

“V.” Cricket had stopped walking and placed her hands on Veronica’s shoulders to turn her to face her, “you are the strongest person I know. I have no doubt that you can handle any shit that comes your way but that doesn’t mean you have to go through it alone.”

Veronica nodded her head, feeling a weight lifting off of her shoulders and gratitude for having a true friend.

“Really V. I mean it. No matter what I’m always here for you.” Cricket gave Veronica a strong hug that cemented her words for the girl.

“Let’s not make it any weirder, I can’t have people catch me slipping.” Veronica pulled back and took a deep breath before giving Cricket a sincere smile, “But thank you Cricket.”

“Always, Veronica.” Cricket cleared her throat before continuing, “So were you the one who gave him the black eye?”

“Nick did that, ever the knight in shining armor.” Veronica’s voice lifted with a high-pitched sarcasm.

“Hmmm.”

“What?”

“That’s not what I’ve heard.”

“Indulge me then. What did you hear?”

“Someone else was your knight in shining armor that night,” Cricket smirked but then pouted, “Man why’d I miss this party V? I thought it was gonna be another lame-ass one but now everyone’s talking about this Jagged character who I know nothing about.”

_Jagged?_

“What the hell? You mean _Jughead_?” Veronica blinked rapidly as if to clear the idea away from her mind. _Knight in shining armor? He got his ass kicked._

“Yeah but he got his ass kicked for you.” Cricket responded to Veronica’s thought that she had been certain she didn’t say out loud.

“It was pathetic.”

“I think it’s rather romantic.”

“I had to disinfect his cuts.”

“You had to tend to his battle wounds,” she let out a puff of smoke while flailing her arms dramatically, “I’m swoooooning.”

“This is stupid. You’re stupid.” Veronica declared, pulling the cigarette from Cricket’s hand and taking a drag before tossing it away.

The girl frowned, “Fuck V, you can’t do that every time I counter your argument.”

“This isn’t an argument because there is nothing to argue.”

Cricket scoffed and shook her head smiling down, “Okay Honourable Lodge.”

“Not that I care but,” Veronica started up again and Cricket let out a guffaw laugh, Veronica hit her shoulder with a frown, “Shut up and tell me what people are saying.”

After Cricket wiped away a tear from laughter, she leaned an arm on Veronica’s shoulder as support, “Not nearly as much as I want. No one knows shit about him and it’s driving me insane. He’s found refuge with Nick and Adam, but he always seems out of place. Seems like a Dan Humphrey of sorts.”

“Ew don’t do that,” Veronica scrunched up her face as Cricket feigned innocence.

“Do what?”

“Compare him to your ultimate celebrity crush – who I still stand by is a complete waste of a hall pass.” 

“Don’t think I forgot that time you said there was a certain _je ne sais quoi_ to him.”

“That is completely unjustified Cricket! I only said that during the time Blair Waldorf was dating him.”

“This was about 3 weeks ago.”

Veronica looked around and lowered her voice, “And I told you that in confidence.”

“You still said it regardless. Anyway, Jagged-”

“Jughead.”

“Seems to be following the same formula as lonely boy.” Cricket’s eyes twinkled, “This may be _the_ defining event of our generation.” Veronica groaned and pulled her friend in the café.

“Have you seen the trip for this year?” Cricket asked as they took a seat by the window.

Veronica nodded as she took a sip from her cappuccino, “Looks quite lame.”

“Yeah, people are planning on blowing it off to do something else instead of the school trip. It’s supposed to be all three schools but without any teachers – sounds like a recipe for disaster.”

Veronica narrowed her eyes at the girl in front of her then rolled her eyes, falling back into her seat, amused at the mischievous glint in the eyes of the girl in front of her, “You’re doing it aren’t you?”

“Absolutely.”

———

When Friday rolled around Veronica had tried to immerse herself with getting ahead of next week’s work for school so she could ease the anxiety of the dinner with the Jones and the fact she wasn’t nearly as ahead on her plans as she wanted to be. 

Since school work wasn’t working on keeping her distracted, she went down to the foyer and began instructing the people setting up where to place everything. Still, nothing was up to her standards and she needed to reorganize the pieces in the dining hall after they left.

“Great, you’re down already.” Hermione walked into the room, placing her earrings on while giving Veronica a look over, “Didn’t you say you wanted to return the emerald Celine?”

Veronica looked down at the dress she was wearing, the green popped against her complexion and the long sleeves added an air of elegance while the deep V cut at the front made it anything but modest.

She shrugged, “I’ll archive it after today.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “You truly are your father’s daughter.”

“And whose else would I be.” Veronica quirked an eyebrow as her mother laughed and went into the kitchen to check up on the course the chef was preparing. She glanced down and turned on her phone that indicated that it was 5:39 P.M., turning around to face the mirror on the wall, she inspected her hair and fixed the small tendrils that she placed free from her high ponytail. 

She contemplated a bold lip but decided against it since it would only elevate her look into an more night-life appropriate one – she was already on thin ice with the low-cut so she opted for anything that would bring back some sophistication.

Her phone buzzed and lit up with a notification, she leaned against the table as she swiped it open.

_This alliance between us is only going to grow from here. I’m down and ready to supply the goods on my part… are you in, beautiful?_

Veronica smiled to herself, giddy with excitement at the message and started her reply.

_I don’t think the world can handle it. Let’s cause some chaos._

She bit her lip as she sent the message back.

“Why are you all smiley?” Jughead sauntered into the room with Jellybean following behind him. She could hear Gladys and her father talking in the foyer.

Veronica quickly turned off her phone and tilted her head, “When did you get here?” She waved at Jellybean, “Always great to see you JB.”

“Just now,” Jughead folded his arms across his chest and matched her position, leaning on the table, “And why are you smiling.”

Veronica pushed herself off the table and walked towards Jellybean, linking arms with her and pulling her towards the other side of the table, “Because Jughead, it’s a beautiful day.”

“The day is practically over,” Jughead pulled out the chair and fell into it, “and your positive attitude is actually quite disturbing.”

Veronica scoffed as she took the seat opposite from him, “Relax, it’s not like I’m going to be nice to you or anything.” Jellybean already on her phone, immersed and not sparing any attention to the conversation between the two.

“I don’t know about that,” Jughead took a sip of the water in front of him and quirked an eyebrow at her, “you’ve been uncharacteristically tolerant this week.”

“Hmm,” Veronica thought, “I guess I have. That’s only because you’re useful to me right now,” she lowered her eyes on him, “But don’t confuse it for me actually caring about you. You’re expendable.”

Jughead just froze at the genuineness in her tone. Veronica did not meet his eyes, her body twisting to the side already distracted by something else.

“Perfect, the kids are already seated.” Hiram walked in with a laughing Gladys and a bottle of wine, “Veronica, have you met Jughead yet?”

Veronica muttered an _unfortunately_ under her breath but presented a smile for her father, “Yes Daddy, we’ve already been acquainted.”

“That’s great,” Hiram smiled as he sat down, and Hermione joined next to him. “He’s probably already told you, but he’s just moved from Riverdale.” Hiram presented the fact that would just seem like an ordinary statement if Veronica hadn’t known better. But the reality was that Hiram was subtlety reminding her of her mission.

Veronica’s smile tensed but she kept it on nonetheless, etching it tighter as if to prove a point.

Dinner went without a hitch. Few awkward lulls here and there on the part of the younger attendees but the parents had their heads thrown back almost constantly. Jughead remained quiet for the most part, only supplying an answer when needed to – Jellybean being the one engaging herself with the conversation. Veronica tried not to notice Jughead’s silence, but it was proving difficult as she was so trained to filter his unnecessary ramblings from her encounters with him. Later she began keeping her eyes trained on him and noticed him obviously avoiding meeting hers.

He picked up his glass and began inspecting it, Veronica narrowed her eyes.

“Daddy, Jughead noticed the Cézanne on his way in and wanted to get a better look,” Veronica stood up and walked around to Jughead, taking his arm, “We’ll be back before dessert.”

“What’s your damage, Lodge?” Jughead spat as she led him to Hiram’s study.

“I should be asking you that,” she let go of his arm and folded hers together, “you’ve been acting all weird during dinner.”

He sighed exasperated before mimicking her action, “Don’t worry about me.”

She simply stared at him, expecting him to crack. He didn’t.

Veronica unfolded her arms and let them fall before gesturing between the both of them.

“This is never going to work if you’re not honest with me.”

Jughead scoffed, “How can I be honest with you when I don’t even know who you are? I don’t even trust you; you’ve given me nothing to go off of that makes you any bit credible.” His brows were furrowed together, before he repeated, “I don’t even know you.”

“We don’t have to know each other – we’re not here to be friends Jughead.” She stated, her eyes staring him down.

“Obviously. You’ve already told me that.” he scoffed. 

“Is that what you’re pissed about? That I was honest about what this is?” Veronica raised her eyebrows.

“The problem is, Veronica, you’re impossible to get a read on and its honestly making me think you untrustworthy.”

“If you’re not going to trust me then who the fuck else do you have?”

Jughead shook his head, a few strands of his hair fell in front of his eyes before he brushed it back. He tilted his head back and kept his eyes closed for a few moments. Veronica simply stared, part of her itching to put the nail in the coffin and obliterate any ounce of sentiment Jughead felt for her.

“I don’t know why you’re trying to be like this,” Jughead finally spoke, “you act as if kindness is a weakness, so you try to be a bitch all the time.”

“Have you considered the possibility that I am, in fact, a raging bitch,” Veronica bit back.

“No. You’re not,” Jughead brought his hands to his face to rub his eyes and frowned, “but it probably helps you sleep at night, so I’ll let you believe it.”

“You know what?” She huffed, “You’re the problem here. You try so hard to compartmentalize people – you think everyone fits this one-dimensional narrative you have in your head from your _oh so woe_ experiences in your tragic life.”

She held up her finger as she thought, “If I remember correctly, you tried that ‘ _girls like you’_ speech on me only for it to fail and you to be back to square one. So I show some basic qualities of a human being and all of a sudden you think I’m a Saint?”

“Please, I don’t think anyone considers you a Saint.” He responded.

“Good. Just know this Jughead – I’m not someone you need to figure out. This whole mentality you have is actually very toxic not only for those around you but for you, so word of advice – snap out of it.”

He stared back at the girl in front of him, the one who barely reaches his chin but in the moment towers over him.

“So, you brought me here for what? An ambush?”

Veronica bit the inside of her cheek as she contemplated what else she wanted to say, “Essentially, yeah.” She smiled at the small victory; his eyes were narrowed at her but she kept her chin jutted forward.

“Well consider your mission accomplished,” he lifted both his arms up in a surrender motion, “I quit.”

He began turning around to walk out and left the room without another word – leaving Veronica confused by him quitting. _Quitting what?_

She stayed in her spot and called out angrily, “Fine, walk away Jughead. I knew you were one to always give up.”

Veronica stayed still for a while, waiting for him to turn around and come back. She sighed as a few minutes passed and he still hadn’t come back. Moving towards Hiram’s desk, she made her way to the chair and took a seat. It felt cold and distant from the little light spilling into the dark hallway from the dining hall. She rested her head back and closed her eyes, thinking about how she could smooth this over.

He had a point about trust which made her defensive, because he couldn’t trust her. She wasn’t even sure she could trust him, and he was the one with a stake in all this. It all made for a chaotic scheme, one that neither knew what they were doing except what they wanted was bad. They weren’t any closer to having any kind of plan and now, she was on her own.

She really did take five steps back from whatever vantage point she had.

This became more complicated for Veronica – Jughead wasn’t some minion or admirer that she could coerce into following in line. It frustrated her because she needed to prove to him that she can be trusted and follow his rules, and she wasn’t sure how to do that. It wasn’t even because she was stubborn, but rather how demeaning it would be to suck up to someone who was the third person in his family to be named Jughead. Veronica had standards and this was embarrassing.

Deep in her thoughts, she didn’t see or hear the sound of someone entering the room until he spoke out.

“Are you done being dramatic?”

She looked at Jughead who stood by the door, leaning on the frame while popping a grape into his mouth.

“I still have a good minute left,” she said rolling her eyes, Jughead smiled and made his way into the room – offering her some grapes as he sat on the table.

“You’re right,” Jughead said, chewing thoughtfully on a grape while not meeting her eyes, “I shouldn’t have expectations of people – I think it was a coping mechanism I picked up along the way so there wouldn’t be any surprises in my life.”

Veronica felt bad, of course this wasn’t him waxing poetic but something that made him felt more in control of his life – and those who disappointed him. She had unhealthy coping mechanisms of her own and who was she to judge him.

“Well,” she cleared her throat and pushed her shoulder back, “I guess I could improve my… trustworthiness?”

“And your communication skills,” Jughead supplied.

“That’s all on you,” Veronica took another grape and Jughead smacked her hand away.

“Hey, that was only an apology grape – not plural. Go get your own.”

“Well you were being a dumbass, so I deserve another one.” She reached out for the bowl before he stepped back and pulled it away, holding it close to his chest with his right hand and his left stretched out to distance himself away from her.

She raised an eyebrow in amusement, got up and lurched her body forward, squirming her way to the grapes but Jughead kept the distance between them with his left hand and began spinning around so every time she moved forward she would hit his back.

Jughead laughed at the petite girl trying to rage against him for grapes, he was laughing so hard his grip on the bowl began to loosen up, so he decided to move to set them down.

Unfortunately, the exact moment he stepped away was when Veronica decided to jump towards him again, the absence of a target caused her to go flying past him and fall to the ground.

His laughter stilled as she turned around with wide eyes and a dangerous look on her face, he looked at her for a moment longer – her disgruntled expression and the sheer ridiculousness of the girl on the ground.

She frowned and pouted her lips which caused Jughead to lose it and make his way to the chair to take a seat as he began shaking with laughter. Veronica got up and dusted herself off as she made her way towards him, grabbing the bowl of grapes she began pelting them at him.

He tried to get a sentence out in between breaths and grapes, “You wiped out so hard.”

“Not as bad as you’re about to for psyching me out!” She yelled as the grapes hit his face.

“You’re wasting the grapes,” He began gathering the ones that fell on his lap, “And I didn’t psych you out – you just have terrible reflexes.”

“In no way is that true, I’m an amazing shot,” She ran out of grapes, so she set the bowl down and picked up a magazine and began swatting him with that.

“Hey!” Jughead moved back in his seat trying to avoid getting hit by the magazine, when that failed, he started throwing the grapes in his hand back at Veronica. “Okay stop, stop… Truce!”

She threw the magazine at him and stepped back, picking up a grape from the ground and hitting him squarely on the forehead. He was still laughing as he picked up the magazine that fell to the ground – noticing a letter that had slipped out. He handed it to her, “This slipped out.”

Veronica studied the letter with a frown and opened it, as she read it her face lit up. She flipped it around so Jughead could see it was some sort of invite.

“I totally forgot about the Marcheasa event.” She hugged the invitation, “Finally I have something to look forward to.”

He rolled his eyes at the opulence in that sentence. “Do we actually want to get some planning done?”

“Calm down Wonder Bread, I’m just having a moment for myself.” She moved towards the bookshelf and leaned against it.

“I want my Dad arrested and away from the public,” Jughead said, jumping straight to the point, “It doesn’t make sense to beat around the bush so I think we should be straight up and honest.”

Veronica looked at him, trying to detect any hint of remorse or withdrawal from what he said but she couldn’t sense it. He remained light and unbothered with his goal and as much as she appreciated his directness, it still gave her a moment of thought.

“I want Lodge Industries in Riverdale.” She opted for bluntness as well, Jughead looked at her with an eyebrow raised – as if asking her ‘ _and?’_ , “So I can prove that I can be legally involved in our family’s business.”

“Don’t you think that’s weird?” Jughead prompted, fiddling with a pen on the desk, “That you need to prove yourself to your family so you can be a part of the business.”

“I think that it’s a test that I have no problem completing – it proves that I can handle any problems that come my way,” She replied.

“Okay so,” he sat forward, “The main element that’s blocking your family from taking Riverdale are the Blossoms?”

“Yes, and the gang that’s protesting against Lodge Industries.” Veronica nodded, before chewing on her lip.

“The Serpents.” Jughead said after a beat, the dark-haired girl gave him a confused look. “The Southside Serpents – that’s the name of the protesting gang. My dad is the one in charge.”

“If we can take down the gang, it gets rid of both our problems,” she said.

“It’s more complicated than that, the opposing gang is more uninhibited and if they were to take the Serpent’s place it would lead to complete anarchy,” he shook his head.

“A gang is a gang, is it not?” Veronica raised her eyebrows, challenging his protective nature over the topic.

“Yes, but you’d need to see it first hand – it’s a better idea to get rid of my dad and make a deal with whoever replaces him to have an alliance with Lodge Industries.”

She frowned, “But what about everyone whose loyal to your dad? I doubt they would just fall in line with all of that?”

“There’d probably only be a handful of people still loyal to him after that – not enough to cause a massive outcry against your family’s development.”

Veronica nodded, “But that still leaves us with no actual plan on how we get your dad out of the picture.”

He leaned back and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, “Remember when I told you I had my own theories on who killed Jason Blossom?” Jughead asked.

Veronica was silent, before letting out a nervous laugh, “You can’t be serious.”

Jughead only stared back at her before her expression transformed from an amused one to shocked, she looked at the door of the study that was still slightly left open and made her way over and closed it. Her eyebrows drew together as she frowned.

“Jughead, that’s absolutely morbid.” She came close by him and whispered it tensely back to him. “You shouldn’t joke about that.”

His eyes stayed hard as he looked at her, “I’m not joking.”

“Fuck,” Veronica took a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head, “And here I was thinking we would write him up for tax evasion or something minor.”

“Tax evasion isn’t minor,” Jughead commented.

“Yeah it’s totally worse than _murder_ ,” Veronica sarcastically snapped back, “This is insane – I know you want your dad gone and so do I but really? Can we focus on something a little more plausible and not just a wild conspiracy? It’s such a wild accusation to m—”

“It’s not a conspiracy,” Jughead interrupted her.

“What the actual fuck are you saying?” Veronica looked distraught as she refrained from covering his mouth, afraid that his words would manage to get outside of the study.

“Look,” Jughead got up from the chair, Veronica’s eyes following his as she tilted her head up to meet his gaze, “I didn’t only just start looking into locking my dad away – he’s done his fair share of shady dealings in the past but never manages to clean his trail good enough. When I realized this was actually incriminating stuff, I began taking note of it.”

“And Jason Blossom’s murder?” Veronica’s voice came out uncharacteristically quiet.

“He has no concrete alibi for the night of his disappearance except that he was completing a deal with some guy named Bill Sowerberry – who coincidentally does not exist so we can’t get a hold of him anywhere.”

“No offense but if your dad is always doing shady shit, what makes this stand out?” Veronica crossed her arms, “Maybe it was just a shady deal and you’re reading into it too much.” Jughead took a step forward to which Veronica instinctively staggered back, he looked amused at her.

“Because when I started looking into the case and actually investigating it, he told me I was moving to New York to live with my mom.” Jughead gave a cold smile, “All the times of me begging to leave and telling him I would call the police on him – none of that made him flinch as much as this did.”

Veronica drew in a sharp breath.

“I’m pretty sure my dad made me leave town because I was getting too close to the case and finding out he killed Jason Blossom.”

The sudden opening of the door to the study made Veronica jump, she rubbed her palms on her arm to warm herself up but also calm down. Jughead kept his eyes on her as she trained hers forward to Jellybean emerging through the doors.

“What are you guys doing?” Jellybean narrowed her eyes, hand still on the doorknob as she looked back and forth between them.

“Picking out a book to read.”

“Making out.”

They both blurted out at the same time, Veronica looked at him with a concerned expression at his lame excuse.

“He meant making out.”

“She meant picking out a book to read.”

He turned to her with an exasperated look, as if to say, _‘follow my lead’_. To which she gave back an equally as annoyed look that screamed, _‘no, follow mine’_.

Jellybean’s lips pursed up, “Both of you are obviously lying and being weird,” she stared each of them in the eye, “I don’t really know why or care right now.” Without another glance she turned around and left the room, closing the door.

“Picking out a book to read?” Veronica untensed as Jellybean left and mocked at Jughead’s excuse.

“Making out is better?” Jughead shook his head.

“Infinitely.” Veronica defended her stance, “Everyone knows that making out is the go-to excuse because of how uncomfortable it makes others.”

“We’ll need to work on our coordination then.” Jughead said.

“Regarding what?” Veronica had an eyebrow quirked, challenging him.

“Oh no,” Jughead widened his eyes, “I meant for our lies – coordinating that, not…I didn’t mean—”

“Relax,” she laughed and rolled her eyes, “I’m only teasing.” Her face began falling as she remembered what they were talking about before Jellybean interrupted them. “So, you’re serious about this then?”

“There were too many coincidences for it to not be a pattern.” Jughead looked at the ground, his eyebrows clinching in together with two firm lines.

“Get me the evidence you have, and we’ll have a solid case to start,” Veronica sighed and looked away. “Are you sure you want to do this?” She turned sharply to look at him, his eyes were now on her’s but felt distant.

“Nothing’s changed Veronica.” Jughead gave a slight nod of his head as he spoke dryly, “This may be new for you but not for me.”

“I don’t know what other cases you’ve been dealing with that involves murder,” Veronica joked while playing with the cuffs on her dress.

Jughead thought for a moment, “I think what I want the most out of this is justice.”

Veronica knew there was a much deeper connotation to that than just arresting a man, but she bit her tongue and nodded along to his words.

“And we’ll get it.”


End file.
